208 HOG CHOLERA 



can safely and profitably be kept at home. All 

 that is required is prompt reporting, prompt diag- 

 nosis and prompt serum treatment. With few 

 exceptions serum will, at any given time, save all 

 hogs which are not at that time already danger- 

 ous carriers of hog cholera virus. 



In the United States, during the decade ending 

 in 1911 approximately 18,000 hogs were condemned 

 annually on account of hog cholera. In 1914 

 the number reached a total of 116,000; in 1917, 

 33,000. According to Bureau of Animal Industry 

 estimates, 40 per cent of the pork which is killed 

 and 15 per cent of that which is marketed in the 

 United States is slaughtered on farms or in abat- 

 toirs in which no inspection is maintained. Judg- 

 ing from my study of the situation as a whole, my 

 belief which I would be reluctant to express in 

 concrete terms if it were not essential to convey at 

 least an approximate idea of existing conditions 

 is that in the country at large, for each hog which 

 is condemned for cholera, at least three virus-con- 

 taining carcasses pass or evade inspection. What 

 becomes of them subsequently? 



Each infected carcass possesses almost infinite 

 possibilities in regard to its final distribution. 

 Whether the pork reaches the consumer in the 

 form of hams, shoulders, or bacon, or whether it 

 is fresh, refrigerated or cured, we should not lose 

 sight of the fact that it actually contains unlabeled 



