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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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Reference :-

C.O. 885

20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

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Chief Veterinary Officer on the recent outbreak of swine fever in this Protectorate, together with a pamphlet on the nature of the disease and the precautions which should be taken to restrict its ravages.

SIR,

(No. 24.)

Enclosure in No. 177.

I have, &c.,

J. HAYES SADLER.

Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer, Nairobi, August 5, 1907. I HAVE the honour to report, with regard to the late outbreak of swine fever in East Africa Protectorate, that on May 5th, 1907, an outbreak of swine fever occurred on the estates of Lord Delamere at Njoro and Molo. The origin of this outbreak could not be traced. Acting on the advice of this Department Lady Delamere caused the entire herd of swine on the above estates to be slaughtered; the total number of pigs at the commencement of the outbreak being about 300.

On May 15th swine fever occurred on the farm of Mr. Skellorn, Ruero River. among his herd of 58 pigs. Between May 15th and June 17th all of these had died.

The origin of this outbreak was obscure.

On May 24th swine fever appeared among the pigs of Captain Nevison, five dying of the disease. Captain Nevison destroyed the remainder, 24 in number.

This outbreak was traced to a boar which had been previously brought from Lord Delamere's farm, Njoro.

The Molo and Njoro Estates of Lord Delamere were at once placed in quaran. tine and the usual precautions taken to prevent the spread of the disease.

Owing to the fact that the farmis of Messrs. Skellorn and Captain Nevison were a considerable distance apart, and as a very large number of farmers between these farms own a few pigs, it was deemed desirable to stop movement of swine in the Kyambu District, adopting special precautions with regard to the infected farms.

Since June 17th (Skellorn's) no case of suspected swine fever has been reported at this office.

On July 1st a veterinary officer visited and inspected the farms in the Kyambu District and reported that all the swine appeared healthy.

Should no further outbreaks occur I purpose, at the end of August, to allow movement by special permit from one farm to another, with the exception of those farms on which the disease occurred.

The special permit will be issued from this office on the personal application

of owners.

The enclosed pamphlet was issued and sent to farmers throughout the country on June 3rd.

The Acting Secretary

to the Administration. Nairobi.

I have, &c..

F. R. BRANDT. Acting Chief Veterinary Officer.

Veterinary Department, Nairobi, British East Africa.

[Issued June 3, 1907.]

SWINE FEVER (CALLED HOG CHOLERA IN AMERICA)

Is a contagious disease affecting swine, and is due to a special microbe which is capable of retaining its vitality under natural conditions in the open air about four months.

History.-Swine fever has been known in Europe and America for about eighty years. What were until recently classified as two separate diseases under the names of swine fever or hog cholera and swine plague are now fairly generally accepted to be different forms of the same disease. On the Continent of Europe it is wide- spread and the cause of enormous mortality among pigs. In the British Isles it

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is the cause of serious loss to pig owners in spite of the special measures which have been adopted for its eradication.

It is known in South Africa. It first appeared in East Africa in May, 1907, in a herd which had been on the same farm for some months and which had shown no symptoms of illness until a sudden virulent outbreak swept off a large percentage of the pigs.

Cause. Is a microbe which up to the present time has not been demonstrated microscopically, although inoculation experiment has proved that such microbe exists.

Method of Infection.--The contagion of swine fever is present in the excreta, in all discharges, and on the skin of a diseased animal; in the soil it regains its activity for about four months and is capable of infecting susceptible animals.

This shows the necessity of strictly quarantining an infected farm for a con- siderable time after the disease has apparently ceased. The contagion is carried by diseased swine, by attendants, in fodder, in litter, and in manure, by birds, by other animals, and in fact by anyone or any thing which has been in contact with a diseased pig. A pig which has had and apparently recovered from a mild attack of swine fever is frequently the unsuspected cause of the disease being introduced into a herd, and all boars and sows newly introduced on to a farm should be regarded as possicle sources of contagion.

Period of Incubation.-Is from six to thirty days, so that a susceptible pig will show signs of illness in from six to thirty days after being exposed to contagion. Symptoms of Swine Fever-There are no special symptoms which enable one to diagnose swine fever with certainty.

The affected swine are dull and dejected with impaired appetite; and when several are affected they show a desire to huddle together; a disposition to hide under straw or litter, to lie down, as a rule on the belly, drooping of head and tail, shivering and fever, reddening of the membrane of eyes, and as disease pro- gresses a discharge from the eyes which causes the eyelids to adhere together.

A sticky scurvy substance appears on the skin. In many cases, in the white breeds of swine the skin becomes reddened, at first in small spots of a pinkish colour.

These may extend over a large portion of the body, parts specially affected being the belly, inside the limbs and ears.

(This colouration of the skin occurs in another contagious disease of skin, viz., erysipelas, with which swine fever is liable to be confounded.) The bowels are at first constipated, but as the disease progresses foetid diarrhoea usually sets in, which in many cases contains blood. At an early stage weakness is apparent and speedily becomes very marked, especially in the hind limbs, causing the animal to walk with a staggering gait. The breathing is, as a rule, increased, and sometimes a cough is present, but this latter is not a constant symptom unless lungs are affected.

In addition to these symptoms there are frequently signs of brain disturbance. such as turning round in a circle, or excessive movement of one or more limbs; the animal may die in convulsion.

There may be all forms of the disease, from the extra acute in which the pig dies without any previous symptoms, the acute in which death occurs in a day or two, to the forms which run a protracted course and in which no symptoms have been noticed, except that the animal may have been unthrifty. In this latter case the pig sometimes recovers, but so long as it is permitted to live will remain a source of danger to healthy pigs.

Post-mortem appearance. The only certain method of diagnosing swine fever is by a post-mortem examination, and the invariable seats where lesions exist are in the large intestine.

After opening a pig's abdomen and exposing the bowels, along the course of the latter will be found a comparatively large sack-like projection called the caecum. One end of this is blind, at the other end and on opposite sides of this sack are the separate openings of the large and small bowel. That of the large gut is a large orifice. The small gut projects into this sack for about a quarter of an inch and has the appearance of a valve, which is called the ileo-caecal valve. On the surface of this ileo-caecal valve are a number of small cavities, which in a healthy animal frequently become blocked up by a greyish material, but they must not be mistaken for swine fever ulcers. Slight pressure between the finger

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