Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1914-11-13
THE FIGHT AGAINST FOOT
AND-MOUTH DISEASE
Statement from the Secretary Of Ag-
riculture in Regard to the Fed
eral Measures

Washington, D. c., Nov. 10.-The
Secretary of Agriculture has issued
the following statement regarding the
quarantine for foot-and-mouth dis
ease:
The present outbreak of the foot
andmouth disease, which is one Of
the most contagious and destructive
diseases of cattle, swine and sheep,
exceeds in area affected any of the
five previous outbreaks in this coun-
try. Unless the infection can be i'm
mediately localized and quickly Grad
icated, it threatens untold losses
among live stock.
So contagious is the disease that
in past outbreaks where but one ami
NAL in a herd was infected, the en-
tire herd in almost all cases later
contracted the sickness. While the
mortality is not high the effects of
the disease even on animals that re-
cover are such as to make them prac-
tically useless. They lose flesh rap
idly; in the case of COWS, the milk
dries up or is made dangerous for
human consumption; in the case OF
breeding animals, the animal once
infected becomes valueless for breed
ing, as it may continue to be a con-
slant 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 9th
ers may be infected. The treatment
or killing of single animal in a
herd was tried in an outbreak and
did not prove effective, for the rea-
son that the remainder of the herd
soon became affected and had to be
killed.
AS a result of the five outbreaks
in this country, and other disastrous
epidemics of the disease in Europe
and Great Britain, veterinary authori-
ties 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 in
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 quaran-
tined ten states for the foot-and-mouth
disease. The Federal quarantine pre-
vents all interstate movement of
stock and materials likely to carry
the infection. At the same time, the
state authorities are imposing local
guarantees which prevent the pass
age of animals from farms or locali-
ties known to be infected to other
localities in the same state in which
the disease has not appeared. Each
infected herd, as rapidly as the dis
ease is discovered, is killed and the
dead animals buried in a covering of
lime. The skins of the animals are
slashed so as to permit the rapid &C
ton of the lime.
The owner of the slaughtered ami
mails is reimbursed on basis of the
appraised value of the herd, the ap-
praiser being appointed by the state.
The expense of the whole process of
condemnation and disinfection is
divided equally between the Fed
eral and State Governments.
Until the entire premises have
been thoroughly disinfected and all
danger of spreading the disease re-
moved, the farm is quarantined by
the local authorities in the same way