DOURINE OF HORSES. 
CONTENTS. 
History of early outbreaks 
Cause and transmission of the 
diseape 
Symptoms 
Post-mortem lesions , 
Course and outcome of the disease- 
Page. 
3 
4 
4 
8 
Page. 
Diagnosis 10 
Directions for the collection of 
blood serum for laboratory 
diagnosis 11 
Treatment 11 
Method of eradication 12 
• HISTORY OF EARLY OUTBREAKS. 
DOURINE is supposed to have come from Asia, where the dis- 
ease is believed to have existed for centuries. It is thought to 
have been introduced into continental Europe during the early 
part of the nineteenth century through the importation of breeding 
horses, especially Arab stallions, from the Orient. 
In the United States the disease was first suspected in 1885 and 
definitely recognized in 1886 in Illinois. The infection was traced 
to a stallion imported from France in 1882. Officials of the State 
of Illinois took charge of the outbreak, and as a result of rigid meas- 
ures the disease was eradicated from the State in 1888, but not before 
an infected stallion had been shipped to Gordon, Nebr., thereby set- 
ting up a new center of infection. Dourine broke out there in 1892, 
but was apparently eradicated through the control measures of the 
Bureau of Animal Industry, although it reappeared in 1899 and 
again in 1901 with increased vigor in the Pine Ridge and Rosebud 
Indian Reservations, S. Dak. The work of eradicating the disease 
in that section was continued until 1905, when the last suspicious 
cases were destroyed. Several outbreaks were also reported in Iowa, 
continuing until 1911. In each instance vigorous methods of con- 
trol and eradication were adopted by both the State and Federal 
authorities. 
At that time the methods of diagnosis were limited to a physical 
examination, which, owing to the nature of the disease, was unsatis- 
factory at its best. But in 1912, when dourine was again reported, 
this time in Montana, the reliability and practical application of 
blood tests had been determined. A test known as the comple- 
ment-fixation test was used in diagnosing the disease ; and by its use 
dourine was found to exist not only in Montana but also in North 
Dakota, South Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Ne- 
braska. It was most prevalent on the Indian reservations in some 
of those States. Since 1912 the disease has been eradicated from 
Nebraska, and a small outbreak that occurred in Iowa in 1915 was 
also stamped out, and the excellent progress made in the other States 
leads to the belief that its complete eradication will be accomplished 
i|i the near future. 
