Part 4

SEC. 4. On and after the ---- day of ----, 1906, no milk will be allowed to be sold or offered for sale or brought into the city from any cow or cows unless the owner of said cow or cows holds a certificate of this board’s veterinarian, or other veterinarian acceptable to this board, that said cow or cows are free from tuberculosis as shown by the tuberculin test.

SEC. 5. Any person selling or offering for sale any milk from uninspected cows as above shall be subject to having his license revoked.

The city did not attempt at the outset to require all dairymen to conform to this section, and it is not the intention to do so until the State laws on the subject are more efficient and provide prompt compensation for cattle destroyed. At present the tuberculin test is required only of dairies where tuberculosis is known to exist as determined by physical examination or by tracing cattle killed at abattoirs. If the owner does not consent to the test and to the slaughter of the reacting cattle, his milk is excluded from sale in the city, and in addition the State board of live stock commissioners is notified, which commissioners have the authority to enforce the test or to quarantine the suspected herd. If the owner consents, the test is made free of charge. After the test the reacting cattle are appraised by two disinterested persons, one selected by the board of health, the other by the owner. The average between the two values is taken as the true value, and the appraisal and report of the test is submitted to the State board of live stock commissioners. If this board approves the finding, an order is issued authorizing the health department to destroy the reacting cattle, which is done and promptly reported back to the State authorities. The approved appraisal is then submitted to the governor, approved by him, and submitted to the proper committee of the legislature, which finally instructs the State auditor to draw a warrant for the claim. The law allows from one-half to three-fifths of the appraised value, but so far all claims have been paid in full.

The attitude of the dairymen toward the test was somewhat hostile at first, which was natural, as it was a great surprise to them to find that tuberculosis existed to such an extent among their herds. Several instances were met, however, even at the first, of exceedingly public-spirited dairymen who did all in their power to assist the board of health, even where the losses were very severe. The hostile feeling manifest at first has since given way to a fair-minded conception of the situation, and the only objection to the general application of the test is the long delay in the payment of the claims. This is a very great hardship on a dairyman who is in debt and dependent upon his cattle for the support of his family, especially as in Ohio the legislature meets only every alternate year.

The following are the statistics of the work of the board of health for the eighteen months beginning with January, 1906:

Number of herds tested 20 Number of cattle tested 280 Number of reactions 89 Percentage of reactions 32

Tested by other veterinarians under direct supervision of the board of health:

Number of herds tested 13 Number of cattle tested 201 Number of reactions 29 Percentage of reactions 15

It is understood that within the same period about three times as many cows have been tested by private veterinarians, the reacting cattle being secretly sold and shipped to other States.

The greatest good accomplished has been in the dissemination of knowledge concerning bovine tuberculosis among not only the dairymen, but the people generally. The health office receives almost daily inquiries as to where milk from tuberculin-tested cows can be had for domestic purposes, and almost as many inquiries as to where tuberculin-tested cows can be purchased. Nearly one-half of the herds tested have been tested as the result of requests of owners who desired to know for themselves what condition their herds were in. This has been specially true in the last six months. It is expected that more cattle will be tested in the next year than in the preceding eighteen months, and if State laws can be passed that will be satisfactory and efficient and provide a fair compensation there will probably be more herds to test than the present force can handle.

The efforts of the Cleveland board of health to eradicate tuberculosis from dairy herds and to secure a safe milk supply for the city deserve commendation, and other cities may well profit by this experience and adopt similar measures to safeguard the health of the public.

IMPORTANCE OF THE TUBERCULIN TEST.

The public has become aroused and general interest is being manifested especially in measures for reducing the mortality from tuberculosis in human beings. This is shown by the formation of societies throughout the country for furthering these measures and by the general campaign of education which is now under way. It has been shown beyond question that human tuberculosis and animal tuberculosis are communicable between persons and animals, and that a considerable proportion of the cases of human tuberculosis are caused by infection from animal sources. The eradication of tuberculosis from dairy cows is therefore very desirable as a protection to human health.

The tuberculin test is recognized by sanitarians as an agency of the greatest value for detecting tuberculosis in dairy herds and for controlling and eradicating the disease. Without its assistance but a small percentage of the cases could be detected in the live animals. It is remarkably accurate, the records of thousands of cases in which the animals have afterwards been slaughtered showing a correct diagnosis in 97 per cent.

Unfortunately, in the early attempts to control tuberculosis in some States, measures were adopted which were so radical that they aroused the antagonism of the dairymen and cattle owners generally, and little was accomplished in the way of either benefiting the cattle owners or removing the dangers of the disease to the public. It is time that those interested in the dairy and live-stock industries of the country should give their support to all measures tending to check this widespread disease and to prevent the serious losses which it causes. It is to their interest to do so purely as a business proposition, regardless of any benefit to the public health.

A practice which is largely instrumental in the spread of tuberculosis is the sale of animals known to be diseased without transmitting this knowledge to the buyer. This is done not only in private sales, but at public auctions as well. This practice should be stopped. Where the tuberculin test is used under the direction of a board of health, the animals as a rule are properly marked (usually by placing metal disks in the ears), showing whether they are tuberculous or healthy. This plan is to be commended, as it renders difficult the deception of a purchaser.

While some States have laws prohibiting the importation of cattle without the certificate of a veterinarian showing that they have passed the test, other States have no such laws, and the transfer of animals from one State to another goes on without molestation. This shows the necessity of the Federal Government taking some action in the near future to prevent the interstate shipment of diseased animals. The work of the Government might also be extended still further in a cooperative way, so that, when the disease is discovered, the information will be communicated both to the owners of the animals and to the proper State authorities.

The Bureau of Animal Industry furnishes tuberculin free of charge to public officials for making tests under certain conditions.

METHODS FOR ERADICATING TUBERCULOSIS.

This subject has been discussed at some length by Dr. D. E. Salmon in Bulletin 38 of the Bureau of Animal Industry. Because of its important bearing on the improvement of the milk supply, the following extract from that publication is appended:

ERADICATION OF TUBERCULOSIS FROM THE FARM.

If there is any reason to suspect the existence of tuberculosis in a herd, an effort should be made at once to determine definitely whether it is present and which animals are affected by it.

The general condition of the animal should furnish some indication. If any of the animals are not doing well, are losing flesh, and fail to yield the amount of milk which is to be reasonably expected, a careful examination should be made of them to determine whether their temperature is normal, whether there are signs of enlargement of the external lymphatic glands, and whether abnormal sounds can be detected in the lungs. The examination of the carcasses of any animals which may have died or are slaughtered is a valuable indication as to the existence of the disease in the herd.

The most reliable means of determining this question is, however, the tuberculin test. While this may occasionally fail to reveal tuberculosis in an individual animal, it may be relied upon with certainty to reveal the existence of the disease in a herd. If this test indicates that some of the animals are tuberculous, measures should be at once adopted to eradicate the disease from the herd, or at least to prevent its further spread. In case there are only one or two animals affected, and these are not especially valuable, the best plan is to slaughter them at once and thoroughly disinfect the stable in which they have been kept. If a large proportion of a herd is affected, and the animals are not especially valuable, the best and cheapest plan would be to separate the reacting animals from the healthy ones, and to have the former slaughtered under inspection as soon as they can be put in proper condition. It is probable that the flesh of most of these animals would be found fit for food, and the loss, therefore, would not be very great. In case the herd has been long affected and many of the animals are in an advanced stage of the disease, they are unfit for milk production, and the sooner they are slaughtered the less will be the loss.

If the herd contains animals which are valuable for breeding purposes, the Bang system of management or some modification of it may be profitably adopted.

STATE AID FOR THE ERADICATION OF TUBERCULOSIS.

In the eradication of a disease so widely disseminated, and one which causes such serious losses to the animal industry of the country, there should be assistance offered by the State in order to relieve the burdens which fall upon the owners of live stock. A considerable number of States have shown a disposition to come to the assistance of farmers whose stock is affected, but the assistance has sometimes been coupled with conditions which made it unwelcome. In some States compulsory testing and the slaughter of reacting animals have been required, but this has not been a popular measure. It is essential that a plan should be devised which will meet with the approval of the stock owners and which will aid them without being too burdensome in its conditions. There are certain measures which have been adopted by individual States which have accomplished satisfactory results but which would be far more successful if adjoining States would adopt the same or similar regulations. Among the reasonable measures which a State may adopt for the repression of tuberculosis the following may be mentioned:

1. Cattle which are brought into a State for breeding or dairy purposes may be tested with tuberculin, and those which react may be refused admission to the State. In connection with this measure it should be provided that cattle which have been tested by the authorities of another State or of the Federal Government and found free from disease should be allowed admission without being retested. The testing of animals coming into a State is essential in any effort to control this disease and is one of the first measures which should be enforced in any effort to eradicate it.

2. There should be an inspection of all slaughtered animals coming from breeding or dairy herds within the State in order to discover in what herds the disease exists. Animals from the greater part of the milk-producing herds are being continually sold for slaughter as their usefulness in the dairy is over, and an examination of the carcasses of these cows would serve to locate the existence of the disease in many herds where its presence is unsuspected. Unfortunately, few of the animals killed in the small slaughterhouses are inspected, and in those cases where there is an inspection and tuberculosis is discovered it is seldom that the herds from which they came are traced and the owners informed of the discovery of this disease. In any effort to suppress tuberculosis it is almost essential that information of this kind should be obtained and an attempt made to persuade the owner to adopt proper measures for getting rid of the contagion.

3. Measures should be adopted for testing herds with tuberculin without expense to the owners. In the beginning of the work, at least, this should not be compulsory, but it should be made to the interest of the owner of a tuberculous herd to have it tested under the auspices of the State. Apparently, it would also be wise and a great aid to stockmen for the State to test herds with tuberculin and certify to the healthfulness of animals from all those herds where no reactions occur. At present it is a difficult matter in most States for the breeder or dairyman to purchase cattle for his herd with any assurance that they are healthy. He may have them tested, but there is always a possibility that they have been treated with tuberculin a short time before and that for this reason they have not reacted. The loss which has fallen upon the breeders of the country through the introduction of tuberculosis in their herds has been tremendous, and it appears that it would be only a proper aid and encouragement to agricultural interests to assist breeders in obtaining animals free from disease. Not only would this encourage farmers to enter into breeding operations and increase the value of the industry within the State, but the certification of breeding animals would help to build up a market in other States for breeding animals.

4. In order to encourage the owners of cattle to eradicate tuberculosis, States should allow a reasonable compensation for the animals which it is necessary to slaughter on account of being affected with this disease. It is certainly a matter of great importance to any State to have its herds free from tuberculosis and its animals and animal products above suspicion. With the recent demonstration of the communicability of animal tuberculosis to man, a demonstration which has been made by so many investigators and on such competent authority that the fact can no longer be questioned, there is a disposition on the part of sanitary authorities to scrutinize more carefully those animal products which are liable to be infected. It is, therefore, becoming every day more important for every State to repress tuberculosis within its borders and in that manner to maintain the reputation of its animal products. Where it is not deemed advisable to provide for slaughtering of all reacting animals with sufficient compensation from the State to make this measure satisfactory to the stockmen, the State may provide for the supervision of herds handled according to the Bang method or some modification of it. For the protection of its own citizens who consume dairy products, if not for the protection of its customers in other States, every State should make some arrangement which would lead to the removal of cows with tuberculous udders and those suffering from generalized tuberculosis from herds which supply milk, cream, and butter for human food. This much is essential for the public health, but it would be wise to go further and provide for the slaughter of all cows which show evidence on physical examination of being affected with tuberculosis.

5. In cases where cattle owners are to have their tuberculous animals slaughtered in an effort to free their herds from disease the State should further assist them by disinfecting or at least supervising the disinfection of the contaminated stables. It is a somewhat difficult matter for persons not acquainted with the practical operations of disinfection to carry out this measure successfully, even after they have been given explicit instructions. It is impossible to impress sufficiently the importance of thoroughness upon persons who are lacking in experience in this line of work. As a consequence the majority of the premises disinfected by stockmen without the assistance of experts are imperfectly disinfected, and the disease breaks out again among the animals which are subsequently introduced. This is discouraging to the owner and serves to fix the impression that it is impossible to eradicate tuberculosis. This impression is already widespread, but it is essentially wrong, though it can only be removed by object lessons in the eradication of the disease under State supervision. There is no reason why tuberculosis should not be eradicated as pleuro-pneumonia was eradicated. The contagion is more widespread and the expense would be greater, but there are no inherent difficulties to prevent the success of such an undertaking.

6. When a herd has been freed from tuberculosis by the slaughter of all reacting animals, and the premises have been properly disinfected, the State should give further aid to the stock owner by testing without expense the animals which he desires to purchase for renewing his herd. This measure is essential to the success of any plan for lessening the prevalence of this disease or eradicating it. The expense of testing such animals is almost too great to be borne by the individual, and, moreover, private tests are often unsatisfactory and unreliable.

Transcriber’s Notes

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been silently corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. Some hyphens in words have been silently added when a predominant preference was found in the original book. Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings and inconsistent spellings have been retained.

On the table on page 13, footnote b was changed to footnote d, and footnote c was changed to footnote e.

New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.

Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.