432 RINDERPEST 



Asia. It has extended from time to time from its home in 

 Russia and Asia to nearly every country in Continental 

 Europe and Asia. More recently it has occurred in southern 

 Africa. In 1882,* it appears to have been introduced into the 

 Philippines. It has not been introduced into the United States 

 or other American countries. At present, it is not known to 

 exist in England, although in the past she has suffered many 

 destructive epizootics. 



§ 345. Etiology. The specific etiological factor of rin- 

 derpest is not known. Several investigators have isolated and 

 studied various species of bacteria from the tissues of animals 

 dead from this disease. Semmer of Dorpat has always found 

 the same organism in the lesions. His results do not appear 

 to have been verified. There seems to be no doubt in the 

 minds of those who have worked on this disease that it is 

 caused by a specific microorganism, most likely a species of 

 bacteria. Koch makes the following statement concerning the 

 etiology of rinderpest in the second report of his investigations 

 in South Africa in 1897 '■ " All efforts to find by means of the 

 microscope, as well as through cultivation, a specific micro- 

 organism in the blood have as yet been fruitless. I also did 

 not succeed in finding any specific microorganism amongst the 

 microbes which the mucus from the nose, the secretions from 

 mucous membranes, and the contents of the intestines natur- 

 ally contain in large numbers." Jobling reports that o.i cc. 

 of blood taken from a sick animal and injected under the skin 

 of a healthy one will produce the disease. 



NicoU and Adil-Bey found that the virus would usually 

 pass through the porous Berkfeld cylinders, but not through 

 the denser form or the Chamberland tube. 



The virus may be transmitted from the sick to the healthy 

 individuals in a variety of ways, both direct and indirect. It is 

 said to be present in the various excreta of the diseased animal, 

 such as the discharge from the no.se, the saliva, the urine and 



*No authoritative evidence of its occurrence there prior to that 

 time has been found. 



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