CATTLE DISEASE.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 452, 25 November 1875, Page 3

CATTLE DISEASE.

( The Field.')

Once again the epidemic known as the foot-and-mouth disease is seriously affecting our flocks and herds, and the complaint is more general than has been the case for the last three years. So far as we have seen ourselves, and been able to learn from others, the distemper has not, except in a few districts, assumed so malignant a form as has been the case on some former occasions. The injury to feeding animals in loss of condition, and the effect upon milking stock, are serious evils, the damage from which is variously estimated, some authorities valuing the loss at £2 to £4 a head. Probably this is not excessive if confined to those descriptions of cattle ; but if taken upon the stock generally, we consider it much beyond the mark. Be that as it may, the injury is undoubtedly considerable, and it is thereforeworth while considering whether any steps can be taken to mitigate the evil. The origin of the disease is involved in obscurity. There seems a general impression in some quarters that it was originally imported, and from time to time reintroduced, and that the only means of its extinction lies in the entire stoppage of the live cattle trade from abroad. It is suggested that the consumer would in the end be a gainer, inasmuch as the fat cattle could be slaughtered on the other side, and sent as carcases just as readily as the meat is sent from Aberdeen to London, and that the immunity from disease consequent upon the cessation of the live cattle trade would eventuate in larger home supplies. The farmers are urged to combine, through their chambers, to bring pressure on the Government to adopt these measures. Bnt the consumers will have something to say, and that will be directly opposed to the scheme ; and Government, however willing to aid the farmer, cannot afford to quarrel with the public. The latter are by no means believers in the theories of the Cattle Defence Association. They see that a very considerable and increasing proportion of their meat supplies come from abroad; they have no great faith in a dead meat trade, and they are naturally sceptical as to the theory of the importation of disease. We have used the word “ theory” advisedly, for upon what facts does the statement rest ? Why are foreign countries more blamable than Ireland ? Cattle are not, we believe, imported there to any extent; and yet wc all know that Ireland is a fruitful source of the foot and mouth disease. We fear that so long as cattle fairs and markets continue to be the medium by which farmers obtain their store cattle, so long shall we at times suffer from this disease. It is the movement of cattle about the country, and their concentration as above, that tends to spread the disease. It'is commonly stated that the vessels and trucks become affected, and that the cattle acquire the virus in transitu. Like many other theories, this is not supported by facts. We have for years past avoided buying cattle from fairs or markets, and have imported them direct from Ireland through a respectable dealer, and have never yet received the disease thereby ; whereas, had the same cattle pursued the ordinary route of herding with others at fairs and markets, it is pretty certain that some of them would have suffered. At the present time there is not, as far as we know, a county, scarce a district, exempt. Cattle have been moving about freely during the summer months. At the beginning of spring we were clear, or nearly so, because cattle traffic was then in abeyance. Shortly we shall be supplied, and traffic will be reduced ; and then we shall undoubtedly have more favorable returns. We are satisfied that contact is not required to cause the disease—at least, contact of the cattle themselves. It is probable that the infecting matter may be carried by many means —as was undoubtedly the case with the rinderpest—even if the atmosphere itself is not the vehicle of transmission. A sensible suggestion is that hares, travelling as they do considerable distances, may be

the means of communicating the disease. According to the Glasgow Evening News, a couple of hares have been caught by a Perthshire farmer actually affected by the distemper ; and, if this is so, it will account for the appearance of the disease where contagion from diseased cattle was out of the question. It has been noticed that rooks appear to suffer. We were told by a good authority that he had seen a number of rooks sitting on the trees with their tongues hang ing out of their beaks, evidently very sick and unhappy. They may have acquired the virus from the grass, and certainly be a medium for the communication of the disease. Anyhow, it is pretty certain that no amount of care will insure a farmer’s stock from infection, and that, when a district or centre becomes regularly infected, preventive measures, at least such as can be practically applied, so far as known at present, are of doubtful efficiency. We have a number of cattle affected at the present time, and not a single animal has been introduced for months, and in several instances contact with strange cattle was impossible. The disease has existed in the locality for some weeks, and we may be indebted to the hares, the rooks, or some other media for its presence. Powerless as we appear to be to ward off the attack, we should avoid needless risk, and therefore it is wise to submit new purchases to a quarantine of at least two weeks : in this way we avoid risk, which must always be considerable. Except in the case of milking stock, treatment is seldom necessary, and at the present time the fineness of the weather and the abundance of grass are certainly favorable conditions. The tongue becomes more or less sore, and for three or four days rumination ceases, and the appetite is much reduced ; during this time the animal looks very unhappy, froth may be seen escaping from the mouth, and a frequent sound may be heard as though the animal was sucking its tongue. It is not always, but generally, that the feet suffer. There appears to be a swelling and inflammation between the claws, which occasionally comes to a head. The animals should be watched ; and if the attack is very severe, and they are rapidly losing flesh, balls of soft hay may be placed on the back of the mouth, from whence they are readily swallowed, and oatmeal gruel may be poured down twice a day. Medicine is seldom necessary ; a mild aperient may be given, if necessary, but the animal is quite sufficiently reduced by the disease, and the bowels are not, as a rule, constipated. We do not believe either in alum or brine for the m,mth; the latter is cruel and unnecessary torture. If anything of the sort were used, which we do not advise, we should try a very weak solution of carbolic acid. Nine times out of ten the animal will recover quite as rapidly if left to itself, and we shall spare it suffering and save ourselves a lot of trouble. In the case of animals in milk, we must be careful both as to milking and preventing any inflammation occurring in the bag. The milk is not fit for food, either human or animal. Its use for pigs, unless it has been boiled, has proved very disastrous, many losses having occurred. There is great risk of cows casting their calves and losing their milk in bad cases ; indeed, the effects upon the dairy are often lamentable. It is not always that sheep are affected in conjunction with cattle; and, though the disease appears to be confined to the feet and joints, the effect is often very much more serious,|and lasts longer than with cattle. At the present time many Shropshire flocks are suffering severely. The legs above the hoof and about the knees are swollen and inflamed, and the hoof itself seems almost ready to come off. The loss of condition owing to the animal’s being in constant pain, is very evident. At present we have used tar bandages, but hope to discover a more efficacious mode of treatment shortly ; in the meantime we invite discussion on the subject, as it is very desirable that the matter should be investigated. Coming at the very time when the ewes should be receiving the ram, the disease will, we fear, sadly interfere with regularity in breeding. We have said that, with ordinary stock grazing in the fields, we know of no practical means by which immunity from distemper can be secured when once the country has become affected. When we have valuable animals, such as pedigree shorthorns for instance, a good deal may be done by keeping them in yards and using carbolic acid freely, sprinkling the woodwork, manure, &c, and even washing the nostrils of the animals with a solution, so as to keep up the smell, through which the infection cannot penetrate. Lady Pigot—writing to the Evening Standard to contradict a statement which appeared in that paper, that her herd were affected with the foot and-mouth disease, and therefore did not appear at the Huntingdon show—explains how one of her show beasts fell ill soon after returning from Ireland ; how all the show animals were at once brought home, and since kept away in buildings separated by river and wood ; and now, by strict separation, cleanliness, and the free use of carbolic acid, the disease has hitherto been confined to four of the show animals. She alludes to the careless conduct of the inspectors, who, as with the cattle plague, may frequently be the unconscious carriers of contagion, since they pass from infected animals without taking any trouble to disinfect themselves ; and she further states that during the cattle plague a London veterinary pronounced fifteen of her cattle to be suffering from rinderpest. Not one animal ever had the disease, although the veterinary surgeon came straight to the Branches herd from the sheds of a farm where they were daily dying from it. Lady Pigot gives a very decided opinion that the only way to rid ourselves of this frightful scourge would be to shut up fairs and markets, and stop the movement as well as importation of cattle, for three months. If only we could ensure its extinction, the result would be cheaply obtained by such means ; but we tear that, as soon as cattle traffic got once more into full swing, so soon should we hear of the reappearance of the disease. Experience justifies this conclusion. Our readers will doubtless remember that during the cattle plague restrictions, when fairs and markets were stopped, the disease entirely disappeaied, but within a short period of the opening of trade it made its appearance again, and wi have never been clear of it since.