THE FARMERS' MONTHLY, NOVEMBER, 1928 



SCIENCE IS SEEKING 



TO CURB ABORTION 



More than $50,000,000 a year is a con- 

 servative estimate of the losses from the 

 great animal plag-ue of abortion. Dr. 

 John R. Mohler of the United States De- 

 partment of Agricultui-e points out that 

 ten years ago the losses from tuberculosis 

 and abortion were approximately equal. 

 In ten years the tuberculosis losses have 

 been halved and the abortion losses 

 doubled. 



In advising livestock growers in regard 

 to the abortion problem. Doctor Mohler, 

 who is chief of the Bureau of Animal In- 

 dustry, does not minimize the seriousness 

 of the condition, but he holds hope for 

 eventual solution, reports marked pro- 

 gress in the understanding of the disease, 

 gives suggestions for indentification and 

 control of the disease, and warns farmers, 

 stockmen, and dairymen against medicin- 

 al agents for the "cure" of abortion. "Up 

 to the present no medicine for the cure of 

 abortion has proved an effective agent. 

 The variable activity of the disease in a 

 given herd has made it difficult to meas- 

 ure the value of remedies and has led to 

 giving undeserved credit to substances of 

 no value." 



"Abortion", says Doctor Mohler, 

 "strikes directly at the source of our cat- 

 tle supply, and at the very organ, the 

 udder, upon which the functioning of our 

 whole dairy industry depends. The heavy 

 toll of the disease includes not only the 

 loss of calves, loss of milk flow directly 

 incident to the abortion, temporary and 

 permanent .sterility and other breeding- 

 troubles, but also the reduced milk flow 

 due to the presence and activity of abor- 

 tion bacilli within the udder." 



The bacillus that causes the disease 

 was discovered about 30 years ago by 

 Professor Bang of Denmark. Subsequent 

 study has revealed many facts about the 

 disease and the oi-ganism. The bacillus 

 may live for months in dead animal tis- 

 sue; it may be killed by careful pasteuri- 

 zation and by ordinary disinfestants; its 

 favorite habitat is the pregnant uterus 

 and it does not remain long as a rule in 

 the non-pregnant one; but it may reach 

 the udders of infected cows and there 

 maintain itself for long periods and con- 

 tinue to infect the milk. 



One misconception populai'ly held, says 

 Doctor Mohler, is the belief in the impor- 

 tance of the genital organs of the bull 

 as a means of spreading the infection. 

 This may at times be of importance, but 

 it is not considered an important agency 

 of the spread of infection. Calves are 

 rarely infected. Two types of the bacil- 

 lus are recognized, one aff"ecting hogs and 

 one cows, and the strains of bovine bacilli 

 difi'er widely in virulence. 



"The principal channel of infection," 

 Doctor Mohler says, "is the digestive 

 tract. This is contrary to the early be- 



lief which incriminated the genital tract 

 as the principal portal of infection. In- 

 fection is spread by the aborting cow 

 through the products of abortion and the 

 discharges which follow in enormous 

 amounts." Doctor Mohler emphasizes 

 particularly the danger of infection from 

 an infected cow that has given birth to a 

 calf in a seemingly normal manner." 

 "Cases of apparently normal birth, ac- 

 companied by infection in the placenta 

 and discharges, are grave dangers be- 

 cause they are unsuspected." 



Discovery of these facts and the fact 

 of the bacillus maintaining itself in the 

 udder for long periods have thrown light 

 on the problem and point the way to bet- 

 ter control methods. 



Blood Test is Valuable 



A long .step toward control is found in 

 the two blood tests, complement fixation 

 and agglutination, which may be ad- 

 ministered by veterinarians to detect in- 

 fected animals and separate them from 

 healthy ones. Studies of infected herds 

 have indicated methods of taking advan- 

 tage of natural immunity and of increas- 

 ing resistance by artificial means, and 

 this work is being carried on by experi- 

 menters with the expectation of develop- 

 ing new facts and improved methods of 

 increasing immunity. 



After a herd has been tested the owner 

 may be able to remove infected animals 

 likely to pi-ove dangerous. At least he 

 should be able to plan intelligently for 

 handling the problem. "A unit of efl'ort 

 expended to destroy infection before it 

 reaches susceptible is worth," says Doc- 

 tor Mohler, "many units used to combat 

 it after it has done so. Many cattle own- 

 ers, perhaps most, can not practice isola- 

 tion or elimination of infected animals 

 from their herds. But there are few cat- 

 tlemen who can not reduce the amount of 



infection that may reach susceptible ani- 

 mals. By careful and intelligent effort 

 it is possible to reduce greatly the 

 chances of infection and to eliminate 

 gradually the disease itself. It should be 

 remembered that indiscriminate move- 

 ment and mingling of healthy and af- 

 fected animals fosters the spread of the 

 disease. It should not be forgotten that 

 uy no means all infected animals abort." 



Doctor Mohler also mentions that the 

 abortion bacillus sometimes causes illness 

 of human beings with a disease generally 

 resembling undulant or Malta fever, and 

 he thinks it possible this may account for 

 many illnesses not explainable in the 

 past. Doctor Mohler warns people not 

 to become panicky over this recently dis- 

 covered fact. Fortunately, pasteuriza- 

 tion kills the bacillus. It would be a 

 serious mistake to reduce milk consump- 

 tion to a degree where the loss of the milk 

 food would do more damage than the 

 bacillus. In the cities pasteurization will 

 make milk safe, and on the farm or in 

 the small city where the milk comes from 

 one or a few cows it is a simple matter to 

 test the cows for the disease and use milk 

 only from healthy animals. It is not wise 

 to drink raw milk from cows that are 

 positive to the blood test. 



Doctor Mohler reminds stockgi'owers 

 and dairymen that the bacillus is not the 

 only cause of abortion. 



The heavy losses from abortion are 

 adequate reason for a vigorous program 

 of study and control. The Bureau of 

 Animal Industry has asked for an appro- 

 priation of $12.5,000 for the work on 

 abortion from July 1, 1929 to June 30, 

 1930. It hopes to carry on extensive field 

 trials for the control of the disease on 

 the basis of information now in hand, 

 and an additional program of investiga- 

 tional work to discover more facts. 



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