EXTRAORDINARY DISEASE AND MORTALITY AMONG HORSES.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 87, 4 September 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

EXTRAORDINARY DISEASE AND MORTALITY AMONG HORSES.

(From the Melbourne Age.) An epidemic of 'a peculiar character, and which, in some cases, has led, tq serious loss, at,; present prevails among horses throughout the colony. It was first observed about. .two months ago, and \vlie:the'r it be contagious i or ('not, has spread so, rapidly that at present there are few stables in which it has not. made its appearance, and a large proportion of the horses of tlie colony are suffering from the disease, for we hear of its existence from almost every locality- It was at first supposed that the disease was in some way connected with existence of .pleuro-pneumonia among cattle, and it is a curious fact that the prevalence of this disease among cattle in other countries has been followed in several instances by the appearance of an epidemic among horses. There is, however, no proof that the equine race catch the contagion from the bovine, for in the present case, horses have been effected in localities where pleuropneumonia has not as yet made its appearance; and, although in some poinis tie disease resembles pV r>pneumonia, it presents many important distinctive features.

The disease has affected alike draught, saddle, and harness horses. It usually begins with ordinary cold affecting the head and throat. If neglected, it speedily runs in the • natural course down the trachea to the lungs, which, on becoming affected, communicate the disease to the liver, and the latter organ, in some cases, becomes the one chiefly affected. The lungs, however, seem to be the primary seat of the disease, and the affection of the liver is usually only sympathetic, rather than organic, and arises from the close proximity of the liver to the lungs. The first symptoms which betray the existence of the disease are dulness and want of spirit in the animal ; there is excessive perspiration after any exertion, and the horse displays weakness, and there are some cases of staggering. Ttv re is usually a slight cough ; the membrane of the nose becomes of a very red color ; the mouth presents a highly bilious or jaundiced appearance ; the urine becomes of a chocolate color, and the excrement is small, dry, and of a dark color, and has a very offensive smell. The breathing is accelerated, and in aggravated cases

becomes very hurried and laborious. Where proper treatment is ad< pted, the disease may be cured, in almost every Case, in two or three weeks, but in some instances it proves fatal in a few days. With regard to the best mode of treatment, pe6ple will of course be guided by professional advice ; and we may Only srate, that in scarcely auy case can depletive measures — that is, excessive bleeding and purging — be permitted ; for such a system would prove as fata! as the disease itself. What is necessary at first, and what will prove quite effective, is, care upon the part of th° groom ; and, indeed, we believe that English grooms would bring the animals out of the disease without the intervention of the veterinary surgeon, but in this colony the majority of the men in charge of stables are as a class so care less, or so untrained and inexperienced in the management of horses, that they are not to be depended upon in such an emergency. As soon as symptoms of the disease present themselves the animals should be thrown off work, placed in a well ventilated stable ; the skin should at once be thoroughly dried, and the animal carefully groomed, and a gentle perspiratory action encouraged, by the use of warm woollen rugs. Much good will be effected by bathing the head and throat in warm water for about ten minutes, one or twice a day, during the early stages of the disease, and when it is confined to these localities. The head and neck should be carefully dried after each bathing, and kept waini by means of a hood. If there is much swelling about the throat, or difficulty in swallowing, any attempt to force the animal to take medicine is sure to produce irritation, and make the animal worse instead of better; and in not a few instances, the ordinary boluses have been found to lodge in the throat from the horse being uuable to swallow them. The active measures to be adopted should be with a view to sustain the strength of the animal, and in mashes and other food, most of the ordinary fever medicines may be administered, particularly in cases where deglutition is difficult to performWhere the jaundice in the mouth U great some medicine of a laxative description, combined with a small dose of calomel, guarded with a little opium, may be advisable. When the lungs and liver become seriously affected, a blister on both sides of the cbest is advisable.

When the disease has thoroughly set in it speedily involves both Jungs, and these organs on a post mortr-vi examination, present the same morbid appearance as in cattle which die of pleuropneumonia — with this exception, that the significant hepatized marbled state of the lung is but faintly, if at all, observable. The characteristic signs of the disease being contagious are eon-

sidered by professional men to be wanting ; nor is there conclusive proof of the disease being spread by contagion. At the Richmond Mounted Police Barracks, where it has broken out, and where there has been one fatal case, two horses caught the disease immediately after being placed in stalls which had been previously occupied by diseased animals, and this was by some taken as a proof that the epidemic is contagiwus; it is, however, among veterinary surgeon's a moot point as yet whether it be contagious or not. Where proper treatment has been adopted, it is satisfactory to know that the proportion of mortality among horses affected is very small. The chief Joss of which we have heard has been sustained by Mr Murcutt, brewer, in whose stables about half a dozen horses have diedfromthe disease.