Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-06-03
HOG CHOLERA.



To Prevent Infection In Railway Cars and
StociSyards.
The writer knows of frequent in
stances where farmers or feeders have
gone to Cincinnati or East Liberty, Pa,
and bought stock hogs for home feeding.
He does not know of any instance
where disease did not break ont within
three weeks after such stock had landed
on the buyers farm. He had some ex-
pensive experience himself in 1878 with
hogs brought into the township from
distance by rail- Since that date and
his Investigations of like results from
purchases in stockyards he has limited
his feeding to his own raising. This he
considered the only safe rule.
Experience and scientific study of the
disease show that the disease is infec-
tious, is easily transported in filth, or
by carrion or fowls, or feet of men and
beasts. The highest authorities agree
that it is a germ disease, and any means
that can bring the pig in contact with
these germs, that multiply in filthy
cars, yards or pens, will be effective III
spreading the disease at any season and
most effectually when the weather is
oppressive and the water supply is poor
or the feed is defective SO as to reduce
the vigor of the animals. When such
conditions prevail, the disease readily
becomes epidemic. yet it is not believed
that these conditions of a herd will cause
a spontaneous outbreak. The conditions
simply favor the ready and rapid devel-
opmont of germs, and the increase of
bacilli in the system is soon manifest
in some form of this plague.
The tanners hope is III keeping his
herd under good sanitary conditions,
and SO far as possible preventing the
transportation of disease germs to his
herd or Introducing among his stock
animals that have been exposed to it in
transit or in infected yards or pens.
That hogs can be carried in cars and
not infected we believe, if proper care is
taken to have the cars thoroughly clean
ed and disinfected before loading and
they are not loaded on public shoots
from long used pens or yards. In the
last report Of the bureau of animal in
dustry we find valuable suggestion
from ]. B. Mathews of Iowa.
Mr.. Mathews suggests that the gen.
eral government should regulate the
shipping and handling of stock hogs at
least His observations of shipment of
hogs for feeding for the last five years
into western Iowa from Illinois, Mis-
souri, or Nebraska shows that these hogs
have invariably been affected with
disease, and the parties shipping them
claim they were in good health at the
time they were shipped. " He holds that
the hogs contract disease in the cars
or pens i'll transit. To prove that hogs
can be safely shipped under proper con-
ditions he cites the case of Mr.. Evans,
who shipped from Illinois to his farms
in western Iowa 200 stock hogs. Before
loading them he cleaned the cars, used
disinfectants and would not allow the
hogs to be unlcaded at any stockyards.
On arrival at his town. arson-he
would not even allow them to pass
through the shoot commonly used, but
let them out of the cars some distance
from the stcckyards and drove home.
These hogs kept healthy. They passed
through part of the state of Iowa, be
it noted. where the disease was prevail
ing. and yet by selecting healthy hogs
and shipping them SO as to avoid infect
ed cars and stockyards they escaped dis
ease.
True, stockyards and cars are not the
only pregnant sources Of this disease,
but they are SO surely plague centers
that it is unsafe to buy stock hogs from
stockyards or ship them in uncleaned
cars. We believe the interests of swine
growers, pork packers and consumers of
pork and pork products demand that
the general government should at least
put railways and stockyards under such
sanitary regulations that we can ship
hogs, sheep and cattle without risk of
contracting some infectious and deadly
disease. N. Bonham in Breeders
Gazette.