102 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Due. 



a large percentages of iustanees. A few experimeuts liave been 

 made with tlie view of deciding tliis question, but the data is still 

 insutiicient. At anj' rate, there is no reason or excuse for the treat- 

 ment or for the maintenance of a horse that shows visible signs 

 of glanders. 



Anthrax. Anthrax has occurred during the past year in the fol- 

 lowing counties: Chester, Crawford, Cumberland, Erie, Franklin, 

 Jefferson, McKean, Philadelphia, Susquehanna, Warren, Wayne and 

 Wyoming. Last year anthrax occurred in all these counties ex- 

 cepting Crawford and Philadelijhia, and, in addition, occurred in the 

 counties of Bradford, Clarion, Lancaster, Lycoming, Perry and 

 Sullivan. Although it is not safe to draw definite conclusions from 

 this observation, it appears to indicate that the distribution of 

 anthrax is being diminished. The outbreaks that were observed 

 varied in size, but usually were quite small, not more than five or 

 six animals dying of anthrax in any one outbreak. Immediately, 

 in every instance where anthrax was reported, provision was made 

 for the safe disposition of the carcass of the victims of this disease. 



Vaccination has been practiced on all the animals where anthrax 

 has occurred, and has been applied to all the exposed animals on 

 farms where the disease appears and also on neighboring farms 

 whenever it vras considered that there was danger of infection. 

 The vaccination consists in injecting, with a h3'podermic s^'ringe, a 

 small quantity of a culture of anthrax bacilli that has been so re- 

 duced in virulence as to be incapable of producing disease in cattle. 

 The second vaccination is applied twelve days after the first. The 

 The second vaccine material is also a culture of anthrax germs of 

 diminished virulence, but they are somewhat more potent than those 

 used for the first vaccine. It is customary in some places to use 

 a third vaccine, but this has not been found to be necessary in our 

 work. Two vaccinations have regularly furnished complete pro- 

 tection. It has been observed, however, that immunity thus con- 

 ferred may disappear in the course of a year, so that vaccination 

 every spring is advisable where animals must be exposed. There 

 are numbers of farms in diifcrent parts of the State where the 

 rearing of cattle is impossible without the protection afforded by 

 vaccination. TJi)on such farms it is necessary to vaccinate every 

 year, and if uninfected cattle are brought to these farms it has been 

 found repeatedly that they die of anthrax while the vaccinated 

 animals remain immune. 



It is of highest importance Ilia I the carcasses of animals dying 

 of anthrax, shall be cremated or deeply buried and covered with 

 lime. If the carcass is disposed of in the careless way that is cus- 

 tomary ill so numy farming districts, the anthrax germs that i1 

 contains mav enter the soil and become distributed over a consid- 



