The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1914-11-14
FIGHTING FOOT-AND-
....vUTH DISEASE.

Washington, D. c., Nov. 12-The
Secretary Of Agriculture has issued
the following statement regarding the
quarantine for foot-and- mouth disease
The present outbreak Of the foot-and
mouth disease. which is one Of the
most contagious and destructive dis
eases of cattle, swine and sheep, ex.
ceeds in area affected any of the five
previous outbreaks in this country.
Unless the infection can be Immediately
localized and quickly eradicated. it
threatens untold loses among live stock.
So contagious is the disease that in
past outbreaks where but one animal
in herd was infected, the entire herd
in almost all cases later contracted the
sickness. While the mortality is not
high the effects of the disease even or
animals that recover are such as to
make them practically useless. They
lose flesh lrapidly; in the case of the
cows, the milk dries up or is made dan
gerous for human consumption; in the
case of breeding animals, the animal
once infected becomes valueless Tor
breeding. as it may continue to be .
constant carrier of contagion.
1t is possible to cure the external
symptoms, but during the process of
attempting to cure one sick animal the
chances are that hundreds of others
may be infected. The treatment or
killing of single animal in herd was
tried in an outbreak and did not prove
effective, for the reason that the re-
mainder of the herd soon became af-
fected and had to be Killed.
AS q result of the five outbreaksJin
this country, and other disastrous
epidemics of the disease in Europe and
Great Britain, veterinary authorities Of
the United States are agreed that the
only method OF combating the disease
is to stop all movement of stock and
material which have been subjected to
any danger of infection, and to kill off
without delay all herds in which the
disease has gained any foothold. This
enables the authorities to eradicate
affected herds and to isolate and hold
under observation all suspected herds.
For these reasons the Department Of
Agriculture has already quarantined
ten States for the foot-and mouth dis
ease. The Federal quarantine prevents
all interstate movement Of stock and
materials likely to carry the infection
At the same time, the State authorities
are imposing local quarantines which
prevent the passage of animals from
farms or localities known to be in
fected to other localities in the same
State in which the disease has not
appeared. Each infected herd, as
rapidly as the disease is discovered, is
killed and the dead animals buried in
covering of lime. The skins of the
animals are slashed so as to permit the
rapid action of the lime.
The owner of the slaughtered animals
is reimbursed on basis Of the appraised
value of the herd. the appraiser being
appointed by the State. The expense
of the whole process Of condemnation
and cisinfection is divided equally be-
tween the Federal and State Govern
ments.
| Until the entire premises have been
thoroughly disinfected and all danger
of spreading the disease removed, the
farm is quarantined by the local author
tiles in the same way in which it would
be for contagious human disease
This local quarantine prevents the visit
of individuals or the transfer of any
produce or animals from the farm to
other farms. In some cases, because
human beings can carry the disease to
other herds, the State authorities hay
prevented children on infected farms
from attending school. In other cases.
as in Illinois and Ohio, the State au-
thorities have closed the stocky artls
until they can be cleaned and disin-
fected.