Ultraviolet Irradiation

Ultraviolet Irradiation 

the use of ultraviolet rays in medicine and in the disinfection of water, buildings, and the like. (SeePHOTOTHERAPY for information on ultraviolet irradiation of man.)

Ultraviolet irradiation of animals is used for the prevention and treatment of rickets and osteomalacia, for the treatment of wounds, and for the stimulation of the immunological defenses of the body. Agricultural animals are irradiated with the ultraviolet rays of the sun when they are exercised. During the winter indoor period, group irradiation of animals is administered by means of artificial sources of ultraviolet radiation (bactericidal, mercury-vapor, and erythematous uviol lamps). There is a standard dosage of irradiation for each species of animal. For example, the radiation dose (in millier-hours/m²) is 290-210 for cows, 100-70 for pigs, and 25-20 for chickens. Caged fowls are irradiated 24 hours a day. Large animals are irradiated on a tether in stalls, calves and colts are irradiated in cages, and furbearing animals and piglets are irradiated in special boxes with screens. The radiation source is placed at varying distances, depending on the kind of lamp, the type of disease, and the species of animal.

Ultraviolet irradiation is contraindicated in cases of tuberculosis, leukosis, acute hepatitis, and cardiac decompensation.

REFERENCE

Medvedev, I. D. Fizicheskie metody lecheniia zhivotnykh, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1964. Pages 182-265.