INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 389 



RINDERPEST. 



Rinderpest, also known as cattle plague, is an acute infectious dis- 

 ease of cattle in which the digestive organs are mainly involved. 

 Though unknown in this country, the importance of having near at 

 hand a few definite facts concerning this disease, should it ever reach 

 our shores, will be at once appreciated. A knowledge of such facts 

 may aid in an early recognition of the disease. It must not be for- 

 gotten, on the other hand, that a superficial knowledge of diseases, 

 such as the layman may gain through reading, not infrequently leads to 

 confounding comparatively harmless, nouinfectious maladies Avith such 

 as are truly dangerous (foot-and-mouth disease, rinderpest, etc.), and 

 causes temporary panics among stock-owners. 



liinderpest has its home, according to some authorities, in the terri- 

 tory around the Black Sea and the Volga River in Russia, according to 

 others, in Central Asia. Thence it has been conveyed at various times 

 by cattle to the countries of western Europe, where it has proved a 

 veritable bovine scourge. It probably visited Europe as early as 

 the beginning of the Christian era, and the migrations of people from 

 the far East have since then introduced the disease from time to time. 

 Especially during the eighteenth century it was more or less prevalent 

 in Europe, owing to the frequent wars, during which herds of cattle were 

 brought from eastern Europe and Asia to supply the demands of the 

 armies. As late as 1870 it prevailed in Europe during the Franco- 

 Prussian war. 



The virus is conveyed from one country to another chiefly by means 

 of infected cattle. The railroad facilities of the present, which furnish 

 the means of such rapid communications, are particularly liable to aid 

 in the dissemination of the disease. 



In the past rinderpest has been supposed identical with various hu- 

 man diseases, among them smallpox and typhoid fever. These sup 

 positions are unfounded, and the view of authorities to-day is that it 

 is a disease of a peculiar kind, not identical with any other known 

 infectious disease. 



The contayium of Ihc rinderpest. The cause of rinder^st must be 

 looked for among microorganisms most likely bacteria. The investi- 

 gations made thus far hardly permit us to draw any positive conclu- 

 sions. It was formerly supposed by various authorities that rinder]H\st 

 virus appeared spontaneously under the influence of deteriorated food 

 and long and exhausting drives, also during unusual meteorological 

 conditions. This view, however, is no longer maintained. It is proba- 

 ble that the disease in it* homo in Asia is perpetuated by continual in- 

 fection of fresh animals, and some authorities even go so far aa to be- 

 lieve that the disease would 1> entirely stamped out, even in its native, 

 haunts, by :i destruction of all sick and inferted herds. However this 

 may be, the success of sack an undertaking would largely depend on 



