CHAPTER VH. 



INFECTIOUS DISEASES FOR WHICH THE SPECIFIC 

 CAUSE IS NOT YET DETERMINED. 



RINDERPEST. 



Synonyms. Contagious typhus ; steppe murrain ; cattle 

 plague. 



§ 211. Characterization. Rinderpest is the most fatal 

 disease affecting cattle. It is a specific eruptive fever occur- 

 ing both sporadically and in epizootics. It is characterized b}- 

 a more or less typhoid condition, with lesions largel}' located 

 in the mucosa of the digestive tract and skin and by the infec- 

 tious nature of all of the tissues, secreta and excreta. It is 

 a disease peculiar to cattle, although other ruminants are 

 susceptible to it. 



§212. History. Rinderpest seems to have been brought 

 to western Europe by the importation of cattle from central 

 Asia as early as the fourth century. It is supposed that it 

 had long existed on the steppes of central Asia and eastern 

 Europe. The first great epizootic of which there seems to be 

 records occurred about 1709 and spread over nearlj^ all of the 

 countries of Europe. It is reported that 1,500,000 cattle died 

 from its effects during the years from 171 1 to 1714. Ramaz- 

 zini seems to have been the first (1711) to accurately describe 

 the symptoms and lesions. 



It was in connection with this disease that the first veteri- 

 nary police regulations were instituted and it is stated that 

 because of the ravages of this affection that Veterinary Col- 

 leges were first established with Government aid. In the latter 

 half of the eighteenth century rinderpest was prevalent in 

 nearly all of the countries of Europe. During the years 1740 



