Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-02-17

stamped out. Such quarantine Is,
OF course, utterly impossible to en-
force. In certain portions of Ger
many, in fact, the farmers, realizing
that the disease is inevitable, make
haste to be done with it by exposing
their stock deliberately to mild cases
in the hope that this will result in
an immediate mild attack and i'm
munity for several years thereafter.
Great Britain and Norway and
Sweden, on account Of their COM
paratively isolated positions, have
been more successful in keeping out
the disease. The outbreaks In these
countries have been more sporadic
and by resorting to immediate
slaughter the authorities have been
able to stamp them out. In the out
break near Dublin in 1912, indeed,
measures were adopted which were
more stringent than any used In
this country. AS soon as the exist
ence of the disease became definite
ly known, so-called "stand7still" re-
strictions were imposed on the af-
fected district. Not only was the
movement of live stock into or out
of the district absolutely forbidden,
but no cattle, sheep, goats, or swine.
could move along or even across any
highway or thoroughfare.
Moreover, within each of the af-
fected districts, known as "schedul-
ed districts" were two smaller areas
in which there were even, closer re-
strictions. One of these areas con-
sisted of the premises on which the
actual outbreak had taken place.
These premises were declared to be
an infected place." From such a
place nothing could be taken of any
sort without permission, and no per-
mission was granted until the OBJ
jects in question had been thorough
ly disinfected. No one but the per-
son actually attending the stock
was allowed to enter any shed or
field in which diseased or sus-
pected animal had been kept, and
the one man who could do SO was
compelled upon leaving to wash his
hands thoroughly with soap and wa
ter and disinfect his boots and
clothes. He was, moreover, prohib-
tied from caring for any animal
which was not diseased or suspect
ed. On farms adjacent to the 'in-
fected place" the owners of live
stock were ordered to stop all move
ments of their animals, and these
orders together with the other reg
ulations, were enforced through the
local constabulary who closely guard
ed all infected places. The patrol
was so strict that it was practically
impossible for anyone to pass into
or out from the forbidden area with
out instant detection.
Within the Scheduled districts"
a house-to-house and farm-to-farm in
spection was carried out by veterin-
airy inspectors who not only exam
ined live stock but made record OF
the number on each farm IN order to
detect any cases of sureptitious ship
ments. Exposed stock was slaughter
ed, as has been done in all sections
of this country where satisfactory
progress has as yet been made in
stamping out the pestilence.
In addition to slaughtering the
stock, farmyards and similar places
were thoroughly disinfected; the
fields in which animals had grazed
were carefully strewn by machines
with newly burned lime; stacks Of
hay were disinfected by superheated
steam; the foxes In the neighborhood
were destroyed as far as possible by
poison, and all persons in the neigh
borhood were compelled to tie up
their dogs. The wheels Of all vehicles
and the feet of horses which left the
places" were previously
washed with disinfectant fluid, and
cans of this fluid were placed about
in fields so that there would be no
excuse for anyone failing to observe
the required precautions.
These methods were successful in
stamping out the disease, although
there have been one or two minor
outbreaks in Ireland since that time.
In this connection it is interesting to |
note that the authorities in charge OF
the campaign could not discover |
any clue to the origin Of the pest. |
'Foot-and-mouth disease, they report |
ed, ''is Of such an infectious charac-
ter and may apparently be carried
through so many diverse and elusive
ways that in this as in other cases !
it Is most difficult to fix ON any spe-
cific medium of diffusing the infec-
ton. The disease was probably car
ried, for the most part, by persons
who were in contact with infected |
but the connection between
the various cases could not be defin-
itely traced except in one or two in /
stances"
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