Report of State Veterinarian. 57 



case of Independence, the testing was delayed until 1911, on account of 

 the fact that we were over-run with other work. We are at present 

 retesting the herds around Hannibal in which diseased cattle were found 

 last year and are finishing other work which we were unable to finish 

 last spring before time to take up tick eradication work. 



The results of the tests around Hannibal are a fair index of the 

 condition of dairy cattle around the smaller cities of this State. Of the 

 192 herds which were tested, 23 were found tuberculous, or one in nine. 

 An animal that gave a suspicious reaction to the test was found in four 

 additional herds. In 15 out of the 23 herds the owners had no idea 

 whatever that any of their cattle were tuberculous. We found one herd of 

 registered dairy cattle badly diseased as a result of the addition thereto 

 of a tuberculous animal some years ago, and further found that this herd 

 had spread the disease to 7 other herds in the neighborhood of Hannibal. 

 We tested a total of 1,688 cattle, of which 68, or 4 per cent, were found 

 tuberculous. Tlie dairy cows in the older dairy districts around St. 

 Louis, Kansas City and St. Joseph will show at least twice as large a 

 per cent of tuberculous stuff, while the herds scattered through the State 

 may show a smaller per cent than was found around Hannibal. 



We have secured a supply of official tags each bearing the initials, 

 "Mo. B. Agr. " and a serial number, which we expect to insert in the 

 ears of all cattle which we test. All diseased animals will be removed 

 from the herds that we test and the presence of these tags in the ears 

 of dairy cattle will therefore indicate that they have been tested for tuber- 

 culosis and are sound. The use of these tags have the additional ad- 

 vantage of enabling us to ascertain the accuracy of our work. 



EDUCATIONAL VALUE OP TUBERCULOSIS ERADICATION WORK. 



The protection of our permanent herds against the spread of tuber- 

 culosis, and the public against the use of dairy products from tuber- 

 culous cattle, are of sufficient value to warrant aggressive eradication 

 work. It seems now that the educational value of this work is to be 

 greater still. While a great deal of instruction is given on tuberculosis 

 eradication, both among the lower animals and among the human family, 

 very little actual results have been accomplished. Tuberculosis cannot 

 be eradicated without the enforcement of State laws and city ordinances. 

 The education of the individual is an absolute necessity. Every indi- 

 \ddual must understand and put into practice certain very simple yet 

 essential principles of sanitation. There is nothing that will cause active 

 and accurate thinking along the lines of prevention of tuberculosis more 

 effectively than demonstration with the lesions of the disease from tuber- 



