The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-11-10
THE FIGHT AGAINST
 FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE
Statement From the Secretary of Az riculture In Regard to the
 Federal Measures.

| quarantine for foot-and-mouth dis | ease:
 The present outbreak of the foot and-nouth disease, which is one of the most contagious and destructive | diseases of cattle swine and sheep, ex- 1 ceeds in area that affected by any of 1 the five previous outbreaks in this country Unless the infection can
 be Immediately localized and quick ! ly eradicated, it threatens untold los- l ses among live stock.
 So contagious is the disease that in past outbreaks where but one animal l in a herd was infected, the entire herd in, almost all cases later con-
 tracted the sickness. While the nor
 ta1ity is not high the effects of the CT are such as to make them practi-
 caIly useless. They lose flesh rap idly; in the case of cows, the milk
 dries up or is made dangerous for hu-2
 man consumption; in the case Of breeding animals, the animal once in fected becomes va1ueIess for breed ing, as 1t may continue to be a con stant carrier of contagfon.
 It is possible to cure the external symptoms, but during the process of
 the chances are that hundreds of oth- CTS may be infected. The treatment or killing of a single animal in a. herd
 was tried in an outbreak and did not
 prove effective, for the reason that
 the remainder of the herd soon be- came affected and had to be killed.
 As a result of the five outbreaks in this country and other disastrous ep- idemics of the disease in Europe and
 Great Britain, veterinary auth critics of the United States are agreed that the only method of combating the 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 ties to eradicate affected herds and to isolate and hold under observation all suspected herds.
 For these reasons, the Department of Agriculture has already quarantin-
 ed 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 quarantines which prevent the pas sage of animals from farms or local ities known to be infected to other Slocalities 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 sslashed so as to permit the rapid ae-. ton of the line.
 The owner Of the slaughtered ani- malls is reimbursed on basis of the appraised value of the herd, the ap- praiser being appointed by the stata- The expense of the whole process of condemnation and disinfection Is di- vided equally between the Federal and State Governments.
 Until the entire premises have been thoroughly disinfected and all dan ~-@<-~ -Q -l--- 1s-..- 1a-- the farm is quarantined by the local authorities in the same way in which it would be for 8 contagious human disease. This local quarantine pre- vents the visit of individuals or the transfer of any produce or animals from the farm toS other farms. In some cases, because human beings can carry the disease to other herds, the State authorities have prevented children on infected farms from at tending school. Tn other cases, as in Illinois and Ohio, the State authori- ties have closed the stockyards until they can be cleaned and dfsinfected The first effort Of the Department Is to discover and segregate all animals sick with the disease or that have been exposed To this end, the Fed era1 an State inspectors are now trac- ing up, through bills of Iadfng and railroad records, all shipments of live cattle which have been made during the last sixty days out of any of the infected or suspected districts. The herds of animals so shipped are To- cated and immediately examined by veterinarians. Tn this way the pres ence of foot-and-mouth disease has been discovered in various places in the present wide area now under Fed eral quarantine, which includes Mas sachusetts. New York. Ohio, PannayI- vania, Indiana, Illinois. Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa Sim ilarly, the numbers of all cars in which animals have been transport cd from these districts have been ob- tained, and these are being located and thoroughly cleaned and 6isin- fected.
 Following the imposition of Q gen eraI Federal quarantine, and the kill ing of actually infected herds, comes farIn-to-farm inspection of the en- tire iquarantined area Later, when it becomes clear that the disease has been localized, it will be possible for the Federal and State authorities to free from quarantine all but the ac- tnally infected counties or districts. and allow the uninfected territories to resume interstate shipments of stock.
 History of President Outbreak
 The present outbreak first appear ed in southern Michigan. How it was introduced there is not known. Shipments of diseased hogs from this place which passed to Chicago are believed to be responsible for the in 1 lection of the pens in the Union Stockyards. Once the yards became 1 infected there was danger that every shipment of live stock through Chi | cago to other parts of the country l might pick up the germs of the dis ease and spread the eontagfon | These shipments, composed largely of feeders and stockers. were sent to | farms for fattening and did not re- main in Chicago long enough for the l disease to show itself in external 1 symptoms Some of the cattle, car rying the contagion, after shipment 1 develop external 1esions and this ac- counts for the outbreak of the disease l in States as far apart as Iowa and l Massachusetts. For this reason al f,-ao i,,s,~ |