COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 165 



RlNDERFEST, CATTLE PLAGUE OR MURRAIN. 

 Sinhalese— Wasangataroga. Tamil— Madu-Kotari or Madu-Pedi. 



Rinderpest is a very contagious disease, especially affecting cattle and 

 buffaloes, the cause of which is not yet discovered. Sheep, goats, deer, 

 camels, and some swine may be attacked— not man, horses, dogs, or birds. 



Symptoms.— Fever, indicated by a rise in temperature from 101-5° F. 

 to 150° F. or over. The animal refuses to eat, and is dull ; ears drooped ; 

 hair erect over the back, and sometimes shivering is noticed. Breathing is 

 quickened, and a watery or mucous discharge flows from the eyes, mouth 

 and nose. In cows the secretion of milk is diminished or arrested. An 

 eruption resembling scales of bran may be noticed inside the mouth. The 

 bowels are at first constipated, but soon acute diarrhoea sets in, when the 

 dung has a foul smell and is mixed with shreds of mucus and blood. The 

 animal loses strength and flesh rapidly, and may die in the course of a week. 



The disease spreads rapidly from one animal to another. If an animal 

 is opened after death, acute congestion and ulceration of the fourth 

 stomach and intestines is noticed. 



Dogs and birds by carrying away parts of the carcase help to spread the 

 disease. 



The discharges from a sick animal are highly infective. 



Prevention and Suppression.-A diseased animal must be isolated, 

 and all cattle in contact with it in separate sheds for at least ten days from 

 the last case. It is a good plan to spray cattle, by means of a garden 

 syringe, over the body with a disinfectant solution and to sponge down the 

 face and nostrils with the solution daily. Sheds should also be sprayed, 

 especially the mangers and floor ; walls lime-washed, and the wash should 

 contain some disinfectant. 



A teaspoonful of Jeye's Fluid or Cyllin to each pint of water is a useful 

 proportion for this purpose. Sulphur and Gas-tar may be burned near the 

 sheds. Five drops of Jeye's Fluid or Cyllin may be given daily in the food 

 to each animal for four days, stopped for two days, and repeated. Attend- 

 ants upon the sick must not go to the healthy cattle without washing the 

 hands and feet and changing the clothes. Waste litter, dung, and waste 

 food from the sick cattle should be burned. Dead animals should be buried 

 six feet deep with disinfectant solution or quicklime put over the body. 



Care must be taken not to infect the water supply or food. 



The law requires all cases to be reported to the nearest headman or 

 police officer. 



Recovery from the disease prevents another attack. 



