18 CATTLE SURVEY OF THE AMRITSAE DISTBICT. 



33. Rinderpest is usually prevalent at some period of the year in 



epidemic form and the spread of infection may be 

 Rinderpest. 



generally traced to the cattle of itinerant dealers 



specially at the time of the fairs which are held at Amritsar twice a year. 

 The villages adjacent to the main road suffer the most in consequence. 

 The disease affects cattle and buffaloes and sometimes goats and sheep. 



Although the people recognise the source of contagion they rarely 

 attempt to protect their own interests. The mortality is always greatest 

 at the commencement of an outbreak, one reason being that the roost 

 susceptible animals are the first to be attacked. Unless the disease is 

 especially virulent the usual percentage of deaths of those attacked is about 

 50 per cent. It is more prevalent in the rainy and cold seasons of the year 

 and in the low-lying parts of the district as the virus is favoured by these 

 conditions. It is not very resistant to a hot and dry climate and consequent- 

 ly is not so prevalent in the hot season. Rinderpest has lost many of its 

 terrors since preventive inoculation was introduced and, though some of 

 the less enlightened of the agriculturists do not care for the method and 

 in some cases oppose it, it may be said that the people are getting accus- 

 tomed to it and where it has once been introduced are usually in favour of 

 it. If it was only possible to practise effective methods of disinfection and 

 disposal of carcases, rinderpest could be very satisfactorily dealt with by 

 a competent and sufficient veterinary staff. 



The people themselves treat isolated cases of rinderpest with drenches 

 of milk, ghi and gur followed up with nitre, chirreta and salt, but when 

 the disease is found to be epidemic they give up medicinal treatment and 

 resort to mystical spells and sorcery through the agency of some mendi- 

 cant. 



34. Foot and mouth disease is frequently very extensive and spreads 



with great rapidity from village to village beina- 

 Foot and month disease. . . T ., 5 



very infectious. Like rinderpest it is spread by 



cattle-dealers, and often appears after the Amritsar fairs, spreading from 

 the main roads. It does not usually cause much loss of life. Ifc mainly 

 affects cattle and buffaloes, but all animals including hurnans appear to be 

 susceptible. The normal mortality is from 2 to 5 per cent, and deaths occur 



