‘  morsitans  country.’  Since  then  we  have  learnt  of  two  outbreaks  of 
trypanosomiasis  in  cattle  near  Fort  Jameson,  which,  as  already  noted, 
IS  tsetse-free  and  a  cattle  raising  country.  The  following  is 
abstracted  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Lane,  the  Veterinary  Officer  to 
the  Administration*' :  — 
In  March  of  this  year  (1908)  a  few  deaths  in  cattle  occurred  on  a  farm 
twenty-five  miles  from  Fort  Jameson,  considered  at  first  by  the  owner  to  be  due 
to  brutality  on  the  part  of  the  herd-boys.  Later  it  was  considered  to  be  Biliary 
fever,  and  finally  the  owner  attributed  the  recurrent  deaths  to  liver  fluke.  In  a 
blood  smear,  sent  in  at  this  time,  trypanosomes  were  found.  A  visU  to  the  farm 
disclosed  the  fact  that  some  Government-owned  stock  lent  to  this  settlei,  and 
which  had  never  before  been  issued  and  were  then  undoubtedly  clean  were 
amongst  the  infected.  This  settler  admits  buying  cattle  from,  natives,  and  I  fear 
that  at  the  time  he  bought  this  stock,  although  showing  no  signs  of  disease,  they 
had  trypanosomes,  and  I  think  a  blood-sucking  fly  had  conveyed  them  to  the 
healthy  ones.  No  ‘  fly  ’  can  be  found  at  this  farm,  and  the  owner  denies  that  his 
animals  have  ever  left.  I  have  little  doubt  in  my  own  mind  that  a  blood-suckmg 
fly  other  than  the  Glossina  morsitans  can  convey  the  disease.  It  is  possible  that 
small  numbers  of  ‘fly’  may  have  rapidly  crossed  the  farm,  but  it  is  difficu  t  to 
believe  this  after  hearing  the  emphatic  statements  of  the  owner  and  his  boys 
who  must  be  cognisant  with  the  tsetse.  Up  to  the  present  between  thirty  and 
forty  animals  have  died. 
A  second  outbreak  occurred  on  a  part  of  the  Government  Farm  thirteen  miles 
from  Fort  Jameson  and  the  Broken  Hill  road.  Eight  head  of  cattle  were  sent 
from  Petauke  in  January,  190S,  by  the  Native  Commissioner,  who  recordea  that 
they  all  were  then  in  good  condition.  When  they  arrived  they  were  naturally, 
after  travelling  for  over  a  hundred  miles,  somewhat  poor  in  condition.  These 
animals  were  herded  with  other  Government  stock  at  a  village  on  the  farm.  A 
month  after  their  arrival  they  were  reported  sick,  and  blood  smears  showed 
trypanosomes.  Five  of  these  animals  have  already  died.  At  the  beginning  of 
April  I  was  again  called  by  the  foreman  of  the  Government  farm,  as  he  reported 
other  animals  were  sick.  These  animals  were  thin  and  unthrifty  in  condition,  and 
blood  smears  showed  they  were  also  suffering  from  trypanosomiasis.  The  serious 
side  of  this  outbreak  is  that  some  of  the  animals  had  not  been  issued  to  farmers 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  others  had  been  on  the  farm  for  five  or  six  years. 
This  discovery  again  points  to  the  fact  that  a  blood-sucking  creature  other  than 
Glossina  morsitans  can  convey  the  disease  in  cattle.  I  must  add  that  every  pains 
have  been  taken  to  find  out  if  tsetse  fly  had  visited  this  district,  and  from  all 
sources  I  have  got  a  negative  reply. 
Mr  Lane  concludes  by  observing  that  flies  ‘  very  similar  to,  if  not  the 
ordinary  house-fly,’  were  present  in  ‘  unusually  large  numbers  ’  and  ‘  were  constant 
suckers  of  blood  of  these  animals,’  and  proceeds  to  discuss  the  possibilities  0 
mechanical  transmission  under  these  conditions. 
We  have,  in  North-Eastern  Rhodesia,  met  a  Europeant  who  has 
been  twenty-four  years  in  tsetse  infected  districts  and  who  had 
previously  never  suspected  any  fly  but  these.  As  a  result  of  his  own 
*  Kindly  forwarded  by  the  Administrator,  Fort  Jameson. 
\  Mr.  G.  Pirie. 
