[The Prevalence and prevention of Cattle Epidemics in Song dynasty]

Cattle epidemics broke out many times in Song Dynasty due to pasture transferring to south, abnormal climate, poor stabling hygiene and climatic sickness caused by migration. Mass Mortality and reduction of animal agriculture productivity threatened the stable production of grain, which influenced society and attracted attention from all social classes. Based on the principle of 'prevention before sicken' and 'contagion protection after sicken', the government took a series of medical and economical actions for prevention, such as veterinarians dispatching, drugs providing, pasturage rule regulating, law modifying (cattle trade permitted) and new farm implements popularization (to prevent missing the opportunity of cultivation), which was effective for Cattle Epidemics prevention at that time.