The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1898-04-02
Live Stock Dlseases in Illinois.

QOmeStlc anlmalS Inc nrSt SecLlOn VI
the report deals with the boards ex-
perience with Texas fever during the
year, and also with the experiments
that are being conducted for the pur-
pose of demonstrating how Texas
fever is conveyed from southern to
northern cattle, and with the process
of dipping southern cattle to destroy
the tick, hoping thus to render such
cattle incapable of communicating the
disease. The report u~nequivocally in
dorses the opinion expressed by the
experimenters Of the bureau of animal
industry that the so-called Texas fever
tick (Boophilus Bovis) is a carrier OF
the disease from southern cattle, on
which it grows, to northern cattle thai
come in contact with the ground where
the mature ticks drop off, lay their
eggs and hatch their young. But the
board is moi yet entirely satisfied that
the experiments in this direction have
been sufficient in number and Of sut1-
cient magnitude to conclusively dem
onstrate that this is the only method
of transmitting the disease. The re-
port states that during the coming
year exposure tests are in contempla-
ton by the board in this state with
dipped southern cattle for the purpose
of demonstrating whether they are
capable of communicating the disease
after the ticks upon them have been
destroyed, and for this purpose the
Fort Worth stock yards have volun-
teered to furnish the dipped cattle for
such experiments. The experiments
will be conducted on premises from
which the Texas cattle can be unloaded
direct from the cars. Owing to the
great demand for stock cattle during
the past year, the report states, cattle
from dangerous territory were I'M
ported into the state, and gave rise 10
ten separate outbreaks of the disease
among Illinois native cattle. Some OF
these outbreaks proved quite serious
in point of loss to the owners A large
section of the report is devoted to the
discussion of tuberculosis among the
dairy cattle of the state and its rela-
ton to the public health. The board
states that there is no question In the
minds Of scientists as to the iden-
tity of the disease in animals
and in man, and that the disease
is contagious and readily commun1-
Gated to man through the milk of af-
fected animals and undoubtedly to
some extent through meat when the
heat used in cooking is not sufficient
to destroy the germ. The effectiveness
and infallibility of Koch's tuberculin
as a diagnostic agent in determining
the presence of tuberculosis in an ami
NAL has been thoroughly proved by it's
use in seven hundred head of dairy
, cattle during the past year. OF this
number tested seventy-seven head
l showed a rise in temperature indicating
: the presence of tuberculosis and were
g slaughtered. On post-mortem examl-
nation each of the seventy-seven dis
| closed the presence Of tuberculosis in
l the animal. The board states its in
l ability to announce the extent to which
this disease prevails among the dairy
u herds of the state owing to lack OF
statistical information that could only
be secured through conducting tuber-
} culin tests or through supervision OF
2 slaughter houses, that while many
: herds are entirely free from the dis
L SdDc oIAClo Soi4Ndih uilNSlSN IL
a ranging from one in a herd to as many
, as twenty-five, fifty and, in extreme
cases, seventy-five per cent. One OF
0 the most extreme cases noted in the
report, is a herd tested in McHenry
s county, containing thirty-five animals
q of which twenty-five responded to the
r test, were slaughtered and found to bt
V diseased. The history of this hero
also clearly indicates the spread of The
o disease by contagion.
q The board strongly urges legislation
to properly deal with this diseas,
among dairy and breeding cattle, pro
v viding that all dairy and breeding
h herds in the state shall be tested will
t%uberculin, and that sufficient fund,
!, shall be appropriated, not only to pay
a the expenses of this work, but to il
part reimburse the owners for losse
incurred in the eradication of the dis
q ease. 1t is of the opinion that it i
a only a question of a brief space o
. time when the legislature will find i
necessary to enact such legislation, a.
4 many eastern states have done so, ant
are by law prohibiting the shipmen
of cattle within their borders withou
q certificate showing that the tubercu
lin test has been made.
During the year there were quaran
tined on account Of the existence O
CHAMBERS in horses seventy-seven ami
mails diseased and two hundred an
~ twenty-three exposed. The diseased an
! imals were destroyed and all prem
-. Uses disinfected. Chambers existed dur
" ing the year in fifteen counties of tn
y state. The records of the past lively
- year show a general decrease in. tn
c prevalence of this disease by counties
n ranging from forty-four counties i
., 1887 to the number stated last year.
~ In dealing with CHAMBERS the Boar
/ has used very effectively the mallei
&c test, being the lymph used in examir
ing exposed horses to ascertain if tn
disease has been contracted and is i
it's incipientSorm of development. Tn
et test is made in a similar manner to tn
es tuberculin test in cattle for tuberculc