16 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



very magnitude discourages the undertaking of any general plan 

 of eradication. 



Despite all that has been done in the past 10 or 15 years, there 

 is no indication that tuberculosis of cattle and hogs is on the de- 

 cline in the United States. It has been reduced or partially checked 

 here and there, and even eradicated from some herds ; but generally it 

 is as prevalent as ever. The disease can be prevented and some 

 definite system of eradication should be inaugurated. Three under- 

 takings seem practicable at this time. 



Eradication from pure-bred herds. — The first is the eradication 

 from pure-bred herds of cattle. It is not necessary to resort to 

 compulsion. The department should be placed in position more 

 fully to assist individuals who wish to undertake the complete 

 eradication of the disease from their herds. It could apply the 

 tuberculin test and, in case infected animals are discovered, advise 

 and supervise their proper disposal or management. The ruthless 

 slaughter of all tuberculin reactors is not necessary. Many of 

 them may be safely retained under proper quarantine conditions 

 and their offspring raised free from tuberculosis. This plan has 

 the approval of the breed-record associations in general and of 

 many individual breeders. Numbers of breeders have requested 

 that their herds be tested. Compliance with these requests to the 

 extent of the limited funds available has yielded very satisfactory 

 results. 



Eradication from hogs. — The second undertaking is the eradica- 

 tion of tuberculosis from hogs. The experts of the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry believe that this would be relatively easy of ac- 

 complishment. Hogs do not convey the disease to one another to 

 any appreciable extent. They contract it from cattle, chiefly in two 

 wa y S — by being fed on nonpasteurized products from creameries 

 and by following cattle of somewhat mature age in the feed lot and 

 feeding upon the undigested grain. An educational campaign 

 should be effective in removing these two sources of infection. It also 

 may be desirable to have State laws requiring the pasteurization of 

 skimmed milk and other products before they leave the creameries. 



Eradication from restricted areas. — The third undertaking is com- 

 plete eradication in restricted areas. The plan would be to select 

 certain communities in which, after a thorough educational cam- 

 paign had been made, the stock owners are willing to cooperate in 



