4 percent of the dairy herds suspicious to the 

 niilk-rinjr test, and almost all testing? of nega- 

 tive dairy herds was thereby eliminated. 



A very significant part of the brucellosis 

 eradication program is the testing of market 

 cattle at concentration points and abattoirs. 

 This procedure, adopted widely during 1960, is 

 proving particularly effective in screening beef 

 herds, and for evaluating range and semirange 

 areas for recertification. It is novi' being used 

 extensively in a number of Western States, and 

 has been adopted in some of the Eastern States 

 as well. Under the market cattle testing pro- 

 gram, animals are identified by a uniform back 

 tag applied at ranches, farms, or markets. 

 Blood samples are taken from these animals 

 at time of slaughter or sale and forwarded to 

 central laboratories along with the animal iden- 

 tification numbers. The results of negative 

 tests are credited back to the areas from which 

 the cattle originated, and herds from which in- 

 fected animals came are blood tested. 



MARKET CATTLE TESTING 



Cooptfohye Slatt ftdtral Brucellofii Erodico'.on Progi 



Tagging Testing 



NO Of STATES 



1959 



1960 



1959 



1960 



aOmcULTUR*!. RESEARCH SERVICE 



Evolution of the program 



Participation through the years has gradu- 

 ally changed from individual-herd plans de- 

 signed to meet varying conditions, to compul- 

 sory area programs, usually on a countywide 

 basis, for complete elimination of the disease. 

 When, as a result of a test of all herds, the in- 

 cidence of brucellosis is reduced to not more 

 than 1 percent of the cattle in not more than 

 5 percent of the herds, the area is designated a 

 modified-certified brucellosis area. By June 30, 

 1960, 24 States plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin 



Islands had been so designated. In addition, 

 there were more than 800 modified-certified 

 brucellosis area counties in 24 of the remaining 

 26 States. With almost 800 counties working 

 toward initial certification, approximately 72 

 I)ercent of the Nation is participating on an 

 area basis. 



Current accomplishments 



The first county to be recertified by market 

 cattle testing was Benton County, Wash., in 

 March 19G0. The market cattle testing pro- 

 gram eliminated 92 percent of the te.sting neces- 

 sary at the ranch under alternate recertifica- 

 tion procedures. When market cattle testing is 

 universally adopted, the savings to livestock 

 owners will be significant. The much broader, 

 more effective screening coverage also will hel]) 

 assure eradication. 



Federal funds available for brucellosis eradi- 

 cation during 1960 were reduced substantially. 

 As a result, a period of readjustment was 

 nece.ssary, during which the number of new 

 areas being added to the program was de- 

 creased by more than 40 percent as compared 

 with 19.59. The number of new county certifi- 

 cations dropped approximately 28 percent. 

 Further, the number of new county certifica- 

 tions possible during 1962 will be even less, for 

 it generally takes more than a year for a county 

 to qualify for certification. Available funds 

 for 1960 were channeled into areas that had 

 accomplished the most work in preceding years, 

 and those that were close to certification. High 

 priority was given to areas that were already 

 mollified certified so that the gains already 

 made would not be lost and progress toward 

 eradication could continue. Services previously 

 offered in some areas (such as vaccination, and 

 tests of infected herds in areas not yet em- 

 barked on a complete program) were curtailed. 

 Some States requested that the payment of Fed- 

 eral indemnities be discontinued so that the 

 funds could be utilized for testing and vacci- 

 nating. 



Although limited progress was made in all 

 areas, the program was not operating as an op- 

 timal eradication program during 1960. The 

 goal of complete eradication, formerly in sight, 

 seemed more remote. However, with the in- 



