80 ANNUAL REPORT. OF THE Off. Doc. 



^\•('^e vory Ihoiouglily cleaned and disinfected and freed from all 

 danger. 



JRahles: Kabies lias prevailed in Pennsylvania during the past 

 year to about the same extent as during the preceding year. Two 

 hundred and tifry-eight cases of rabies in dogs have been reported, 

 together Avith 42 cows, 8 horses, 16 sheep and 4 pigs. There have 

 been at least three deaths from rabies in man during the past year. 

 As there has been no means of obtaining comj)lete information in 

 regard to deaths from rabies, or the occurrence of this disease, there 

 can be no doubt that the losses are very much greater than are shown 

 b}' the figures here furnished. 



Every case that has been traced to a definite source during the 

 past year has come from the bite of a dog. While it occasionally hap- 

 pens that rabid animals of other species transmit rabies by biting, 

 such occurrences are so rare that in the practical management of the 

 disease they may be almost disregarded. There is no doubt that if 

 the spread of rabies by dogs were prevented, the disease would soon 

 become extinct. Indeed, rabies has been exterminated in England 

 by this means. 



Less difficulty has been experienced during the past year than in 

 previous years in the enforcement of quarantines of dog established 

 by the State Livestock Sanitary Board. The foolish notions in 

 regard to '.rabies that were formerly promulgated so widely have 

 proven to be unsound and do not now influence the public mind as 

 in previous years. The friends of dogs are beginning to realize that 

 it is much better for dogs to experience the inconvenience of the 

 muzzle, when necessary on account of the prevalence of rabies, than 

 it is to permit rabid dogs to scatter disease widelv among their own 

 and other species. The Act of March 27, 1901 (P. L. 80), entitled ''An 

 Act to prevent the spread of the disease known as rabies or hydropho- 

 bia; and to authorize the quarantine, restraint, confinement, or muz- 

 zling of dogs, during outbreaks of this disease, and to empower the 

 State Livestock Sanitary Board to enforce the provisions of this 

 Act," has proven to be of great value. The authority that is conferred 

 by this Act should make it possible to increase the efficiency of the 

 regulations of the State Livestock Sanitary Board in respect to the 

 quarantine of dogs for the prevention of rabies and should lead 

 to a steady diminution in the prevalence of this disease. 



The practical need in this connection that is now most keenly 

 felt is in relation to reports upon the occurrence of rabies. No one 

 is re(|uired by law to report the occurrence of rabies, or any other 

 disease, to the State Livestock Sanitary Board, or to any State 

 officer. The thing that is most important in the control of rabies, 

 as in the control of other infectious diseases, is early recognition 

 and immediate report of the existence of the disease; it is only then 

 that prompt action on the part of this Board is possible. Fortunately, 

 a large portion of the veterinarians of the State report promptly the 

 occurrence of diseases of public importance, but such reports are 

 purely voluntary and are so often neglected or delayed that our work 

 in relation to rabies is seriously hampered. 



During the past year, dogs have been quarantined on account of 

 rabies in 49 localities. It happened very frequently that quarantined 

 dogs developed rabies within a short time after the beginning of 

 the quarantine. Such dogs being confined or muzzled and under 



