154 

 DIVISION OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



Honolulu, April 30, 1914. 



Albert W'atcrhouse, Esc|., President and Executive Officer, Board 

 of Agriculture and Forestry. 



Sir: — I beg' to report on the work of the Division of Animal 

 Indu.stry for the month of April, 1914, as follows: 



Boi'iiic Tuberculosis Control. 



As will be seen from the appended report of Dr. Case another 

 test of the dairy herds of Honolulu has nearly been finished ; that 

 is, practically all, with the exception of the railroad ranches, have 

 now been through the fifth test. The final result of 2.89% of 

 reactors looks at first sight as an increase in the number of ani- 

 mals afifected, but wdien the several thousand head of railroad 

 ranch cattle is added — among which it is not expected that any, 

 or at least very few, reactors will be found — the final percentage 

 will be materially reduced. 



As an example of the efficiency of the test it may be mentioned 

 that one of the largest dairy herds in the county, but at the same 

 time the one in which the eradication of tuberculosis was first 

 begun, this time came through the test with a single reactor. 

 While this animal was sent to the slaughterhouse immediately it 

 must not be taken for granted that the herd, consisting of several 

 hundrerl head, is now permanently free from the disease. In this 

 mild climate the infection seems able to persist for a considerable 

 length of time unless destroyed by repeated and efTective disin- 

 fection, and even when this precaution has been taken the disease 

 has been known to crop up again after two or even three success- 

 ful tests have been passed. 



This statement should not be considered as discouraging but 

 on the contrary should stimulate every milk ])ri)duccr who has 

 once got his herd cleaned up not to dro]) the work there but to 

 continue the same vigilance against its recurrence as was taken 

 towards its eradication, and in a community where the inspection 

 and testing is done without any cost to the owners this cannot be 

 considered a hardshij), when a herd has once been cleaned \]p it 

 cannot suddenly drop Ijack lo be a heavily infected herd, tuiless 

 gross carelessness or criminal negligence is practiced by the 

 owner or his employees. The immense importance of the subject, 

 that is, the recurrence of tul)erculosis in a herd once declared 

 clean, may l)e iuiderst(»od when it is learned th.'il one of the prin- 

 cipal papers to l)e discussed at the annual meeting of the Ameri- 

 can .Association f)f Medical Milk Commissioners, to bi' lu-ld at 

 Rochester. N. Y.. June 10-20. 1914. is entitled, "Tin- Amount of 

 b'cturn Tnbcrcuio^i>^ in Certified Herds," b\' no less an authoritv 



