No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 153 



tion, then by the township auditor of the township in which the car- 

 cass may be. The cost of disposing of the carcass in this way is to be 

 paid by the State Live Stock Sanitary Board, and is to constitute a 

 lien on the property of the owner of the animal at the time of its 

 death, and it is the duty of the State Live Stock Sanitary Board to 

 attempt to recover by due process of law from the owner the amount 

 expended by it in disposing of or destroying the carcass. 



So far as is known, no additional outbreaks of anthrax have oc- 

 curred in this State as a result of infection from outside of our 

 borders. The owners of cattle io the localities where the disease is 

 most prevalent are now informed as to the urgent necessity of cremat- 

 ing the carcasses of all animals that die of this disease and of vac- 

 cinating cattle on exposed lands. These are the most important 

 points to observe in connection with the control of an outbreak of 

 anthrax and by means of them the disease is kept well in hand in 

 this State. 



The thing that it is first necessary to determine where anthrax is 

 suspected is whether the disease is anthrax or not. It is safest not to 

 attempt to settle this question by making a postmortem examination 

 on the carcass of the suspected animal. Where such a postmortem 

 examination is made the operator exposes himself to grave danger. 

 Many lives have been lost from anthrax as a result of wounds in- 

 fected from carcasses of dead animals. Moreover, if the carcass is 

 oi)ened the blood flows upon and into the surrounding soil. This 

 blood, if the animal died of anthrax, is loaded with germs and spores 

 of this disease. iSpores of the anthrax bacillus are exceedingly re- 

 sistant organisms and will live in the soil exposed to all the changes 

 and extremes of temperature and moisture for a period of several 

 years; possibly as long as ten years. When soil is infected in this 

 way there is constant danger to animals that graze over it or that 

 feed upon the products from it, or that drink water that has flowed 

 over it or through it. 



If the daagnosis cannot be made from the symptoms alone, it is 

 best to treat the carcass as though it was known that the animal 

 had died of anthrax, and thus be on the safe side, but in order that 

 the facts in the case may be revealed and uncertainty avoided in 

 future cases of a similar nature, a sample should be sent to the la- 

 boratory of the State Live Stock Sanitary Board, 36th and Spruce 

 Sts., Pthiladelphia, for examination. This sample should consist 

 of an ear of the dead animal cut off close to the head. Such a speci- 

 men will contain enough blood to enable a bacteriologist 

 to make a diagnosis of anthrax or to exclude this disease. 

 The ear should be wrapped in waxed parchment paper us- 

 ing several thicknesses and covering the package several times with 

 separate sheets, so that leakage may be impossible. Or, the ear 

 may be placed in a glass fruit jar which may be sealed. The package 

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