1908.] 



Notice as to Glanders or Farcy. 



609 



to slaughter horses, who has in his possession a carcase of any 

 horse, ass or mule affected with or suspected of glanders or 

 farcy, to give notice of that fact with all practicable speed 

 to a constable of the police force for the police area wherein 

 the carcase is. In the County or City of London the notice 

 is required by the London (Notification of Glanders) Order of 

 1907 to be given either to an Inspector of the Local Authority 

 or to a police constable. 



Failure to give such notice renders a person liable to a fine of 

 £20, and, in certain circumstances, to a month's imprisonment 

 with hard labour. 



The Board think it desirable also to warn persons that the 

 disease may be contracted by a human being from a diseased 

 horse by inoculation through a wound or by rubbing a mucous 

 membrane, such as that of the eye, with the soiled fingers, 

 and that care should therefore be exercised in the handling 

 of carcases of horses which may be affected with the disease 

 or suspected of being so affected, in order that this risk may be 

 avoided. 



The symptoms of Glanders and Farcy may be summarised as follows : — The disease 

 is called " Farcy " when located on the surface of limbs or body ; " Glanders " when 

 the principal symptoms are seen in the nostrils, submaxillary glands, and lungs. A 

 horse may be affected with Glanders and show no symptoms except slight unthriftiness. 

 This is called occult Glanders, and can only be diagnosed by the mallein test. 



In typical clinical cases there is a thick grey-coloured discharge from one or both 

 nostrils. Ulcers and ulcerous patches are seen inside the nasal cavities, and the 

 glands under the jaw are enlarged and hard. The temperature may be raised, but in 

 chronic cases it may be no higher than the normal. In severe and acute cases the 

 temperature is several degrees above normal, and the animal shows distinct symptoms 

 of respiratory disease. In Farcy one or more limbs become swollen. The lymph 

 vessels stand out prominently on the inside of the limbs. The vessels give a cord- 

 like feel to the hand, and small nodules appear along the course of the vessels. These 

 nodules frequently burst and become ulcers, which discharge a thick, yellow fluid of 

 oily appearance. The ulcers may heal and leave a scar, but they usually break out 

 again. Farcy may also appear on the skin of the neck and body. 



After death one sees the ulcers on the skin if Farcy has been present. Besides 

 what is seen in the live animal, ulceration of the throat and air passages may also be 

 found. The most constant changes are, however, found in the lungs. In acute 

 Glanders, small grey nodules about the size of a pin-head are seen all through the 

 lung substance. In the chronic forms the nodules in the earlier stages appear as small 

 grey patches with a red margin. Others are of pus-like consistence. The older 

 nodules are hard and shot-like to the touch ; some of them are gritty — calcification. 

 The number of nodules in a lung varies from one or two to hundreds. The donkey 

 suffers from an acute form of Glanders, in which the lungs are inflamed over a large 

 surface. The tissue is solid, and on section the surface of the lung has a greyish red 

 colour. 



T. H. Elliott, Secretary. 



(2783) 



2 Q 



