To obtain maximum safety in determining the true imllorum status of a flock all 

 birds on the premises should be tested each year. 



It should be emphasized again that birds should not be used for breeding purposes 

 until they have been tested and found free of pullorum disease. Some poultrymen 

 in the past have used untested birds to supply hatching eggs during the spring, 

 summer, and fall months for broiler production. Flock owners whose flocks are 

 officially classified as pullorum-passed or pullorum-clean are not permitted to sell 

 hatching eggs or chicks from untested birds for either broiler production or for 

 replacement stock. Each flock owner seHing hatching eggs or baby chicks should 

 exercise every means to determine that his breeding flock is free of the disease. 



Filing Applications for Testing: At the beginning of each season, flock 

 owners who received testing service the previous season are sent application cards 

 for the next year's work. Flock owners frequently delay returning these cards and 

 in many instances do not return them at all but attempt to make arrangements for 

 testing by letter or telephone. It is impossible to conduct an efiicient service if 

 the laboratory is not informed in ample time about the testing demands. This 

 information is necessary to determine the needs for the testing service and to carry 

 out the routing expeditiously and economically. All flock owners have been noti- 

 fied that the laboratory will follow the policy of processing the applications in the 

 order received. Furthermore, flock owners must recognize that the testing load 

 has to be distributed over several months instead of two or three months because it 

 is practically impossible to employ personnel for only a few months. Flocks should 

 be tested as soon as the birds are five months of age, if the laboratory is in a position 

 to do so. The following summary gives the distribution of tests by months: 



Months Number of Tests Months Number of Tests 



April, 1954 .58,640 November, 1954 166,940 



May 44,283 December 142,162 



June 43,361 January, 1955 98,578 



July 75,246 February 72,196 



August 91,238 March .56,173 



September 156,216 April, 1,654 



October 197.545 



Total 1,204,232 



Expansion in Efforts toward Pullorum Disease Eradication: Testing data 

 in this bulletin reveal that present methods of control and eradication have been 

 successful in reducing infection to a very small amount. To obtain further progress 

 it appears quite evident that certain changes should be adopted to make our present 

 program more effective. The following recommendations to expand our efforts in 

 pullorum disease eradication have been approved by the Massachusetts Federation 

 of Poultry Associations. 



I. Handling of flocks with acute outbreaks: 



A. Affected chicks should be destroyed or reared for broilers. If earlv 

 liquidation is not possible, then infection should be eliminated through 

 short interval retesting. 



B. In adult flocks affected birds should be sold promptly. This may pre- 

 vent further spread to other groups in the flock. The balance of the flock 



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