Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-09-22
SERUM AND FOOT AND MOUTH
r. DISEASE.
wallace Farmer.)


kinshlp OF animals in the matter of
disaaae. Hogs will take cholera:
cattle and horses will not Hogs and
chickens and cattle and men Will
take tuberculosis in some fOrml
Whether it is exactly. the: same
form or not does not mater much.
Tho doctors have been trying to de-
eide that for about ten years. Cat
tie will not take hog cholera, but
hogs will take foot: and mouth DIS
ease. - ~ = 'so's,
We are learning pretty fast about
this kinship between hogs and cat
tie and foot and mouth disease. We
doubt if it ever occurred to the veter
|inarians Of the Department of Agri-
culture, when they were developing
4 serum for hog cholera, that 1t
might be the means of communicate
ing foot and mouth disease to cat
|tle.- We know it now. A number OF
outbreaks have been traced directly
to the serum. Fortunately, our vet
terfnarians have been going to col
lege, and have been getting new ex-
pertence. The Department ot.. Ag,ri-
culture is on its mettle, and it. is
to DO hoped thai this source of
spreading the disease will be clos
ed up. These outbreaks show : the
necessity for exercising the utmost
vigilance in governmental supervi--
sion OF serum factories, of which
there are many. The most natural
place for them to be located is at
some stock yards; and while that
is the most natural, it. is about the
worst place that they could be lccat-
ed. ;.r go u +
One serious objection to serum
is that to manufacture it .you must
keep hog cholera in stock. The same
is true of the virus. And the more
we see Of the serum treatment Of
hog cholera whether with serum
alone or both serum and virus, the
more we are impressed with + the
need OF care. in its use. If both
serum and virus are just right. and
by, skilled veterinar-
ian at just. the right. time, the dQu-
bla treatment will save most ofa'the
hogs treated. But and here's a
big butt. is difficult to know, the
strength Of the, serum and, the viru-
lence of the. virus. The hogs from
which the serum is made and the
virus taken, may have very mild
attack, or they may have a very
severe attack. Then there is. al
ways danger from the carelessness
of the operators as well as from the
carelessness of the manufacturers.
The need of preventive sanitary
measures is becoming more and q,
more apparent. The man who uses
disinfectants freely every few weeks,
who dips his hogs, who keeps pens
and yards clean, who keeps l.. away
from sick hogs, and keeps visitors
away from his hogs when cholera is
in the neighborhood,. will suffer
small losses from this disease. Keep
sible.:' Sow alfalfa. Feed them in
summer away from the other build
ings. Clean out the yards thor
cughly. 1t would often be a good
thing if the farmer would tear down
his! hog pens that have been used
for a number of years and are not
move all the manure, and disinfect
the premises thoroughly. .
While he is about it, he may as
we'll quit breeding from immature
stock, make study of balanced ra-
tons, and thus maintain the vitality
of his hogs and their resistance to
disease. He should not bring any
hog into his herd until quarantined
for at least two weeks better three
or four. 49,.
We could stand hog cholera when
hogs brought: only three cents
a pound; but we can't stand it\ at
ten cents, or even nine or eight
If farmers would all follow the
suggestions we have made, we would
probably not see much hog cholera.
But, if we keep on lowering the vi
tality of our hogs, and keeping them
under conditions that prevent, them
from becoming vigorous and robust.
then in a few years, we may expect
another three years siege. Of 1t.
r-,,
I ~.
CARD OF THANKS.
- civ