Looking after ill animals

To look after ill animals, you must:

· Go and see the veterinary surgeon.
When a man is ill, he goes to the doctor.
When an animal is ill, ask advice from the veterinary assistant or the veterinary surgeon.
The assistant will tell you what medicine to give the animal.

· Keep the animal alone, by itself.
Why?
Because of the danger of infecting other animals.
There are two kinds of disease:

· contagious diseases
These are diseases which can pass from one animal to another.
If one animal in a herd is ill, it can give this disease to all the other animals. For example, rinderpest and anthrax are contagious diseases.

· non- contagious diseases

These are diseases which do not pass from one animal to another. If one animal is ill with such a disease, this disease is no danger to the other animals.

When an animal has a contagious disease it must be kept alone by itself.

Do not leave it with the rest of the herd. In this way you keep the disease away from the whole herd.

You must not eat the meat of animals which have died from certain contagious diseases such as tuberculosis. This disease can pass from animals to people.

You must not let your herd mix with strange herds travelling through, especially if they come from far away. Passing herds can bring diseases with them.

Do not put in your herd an animal you have bought, or which comes from elsewhere, unless you are sure it has been vaccinated. The animal may bring disease to all the herd.

To make a country's animal husbandry modern, veterinary services are necessary. All farmers should follow the advice of these services.

· Remember that a good way of controlling diseases is to give pastures a period of rest.