Report of State Veterinarian. 59 



on tuberculous cattle combined with instruction covering the general 

 principles governing the disease. The public instruction that can be 

 given as incidental to the eradication of tuberculosis among cattle will, 

 in my opinion, be of far more value to the State than the mere protec- 

 tion of cattle against this disease. 



QUARANTINE REGULATIONS. 



The protection of this State, by suitable quarantine regulations, 

 against the importation of tuberculous cattle from other states has be- 

 come imperative. A total of thirty-one states are now barring the in- 

 troduction of tuberculous cattle. This leaves the remainder, of which 

 Missouri is one, as a dumping ground for diseased cattle rejected by the 

 other thirty-one states. A large number of shipments of cattle have been 

 brought into, and promiscuoush^ scattered over this State during the 

 past year. The facts that these imported cattle are selling at far less 

 than similar cattle, if sound, would bring either in this State or at their 

 origin, and that they are coming largely from New York and Vei-mont, 

 where probably one-third of all cattle are tuberculous, causes a grave 

 suspicion that at least a large per cent of them are diseased with tuber- 

 culosis. Without restricting the importation of diseased cattle, our 

 efforts at the eradication of tuberculosis among our own cattle will be of 

 little value. The official reports of the U. S. Bureau of Animal Industry, 

 and of the states, show that tuberculosis is prevalent among cattle in 

 the states from which these importations are coming. I therefore rec- 

 ommend that the Board of Agriculture forthwith formulate suitable 

 rules and regulations governing the importation of cattle, and that 

 the Governor proclaim the same to be enforced with the least possible 

 delay, 



INVESTIGATIONS. 



It has been impossible to thoroughly make the investigations that 

 were proposed in my report for 1908. From the few additional facts 

 which have come to hand during the past year, I am reasonably satisfied 

 that both conditions exist. The practice of taking diseased cattle from 

 our public stock yards for slaughter in plants not having meat inspec- 

 tion, and for addition to our dairy herds, has been a common practice 

 for years, and at present, there is no restriction on this sort of traffic. 

 The very nature of the traffic in stock cattle leaves no room for doubt 

 that tuberculous cattle are being shipped into this State. 



