196 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



used to return them to Clark. Dr. Culver from time to time obtained 

 vaccine virus from outside sources to either strengthen his product 

 or to standardize it. Among others he had material from the same 

 firm in Philadelphia, in the summer of 1902. 



I think it would be well in investigating this outbreak to see if 



the Company in Detroit has had any vaccine virus from 



abroad recently, also find out whether they kill the cattle that they 

 use for producing vaccine virus, or whether they are sold to farmers 

 in the vicinity of Detroit. If it cannot be traced in this way to the 

 Company I think any other vaccine virus plant in any lo- 

 cality where foot-and-mouth disease seems to have originated ought 

 to be investigated in the same way, in order to determine whether 

 there is a possibility of the disease being introduced into this country 

 through some such source or not. 



If you do ascertain the origin of the trouble I would be very much 

 obliged to you if you could give me a brief history of the trouble 

 and its origin. 



Yours respectfully, Austin Peters, 



Chief of Cattle Bureau. 



The result has been that the outbreak in Pennsylvania was 

 traced to the stock yards at East BuflFalo, thence to the stock 

 yards at Detroit, and from there to various herds nearby, 

 and finally to the farm of the drug firm in question. The 

 diiference between the management of the young cattle used 

 at the plant of the Philadelphia concern in 1902-03 and the 

 Detroit firm is that the Philadelphia firm killed the calves 

 when it was through with them, hence the disease did not 

 escape in the neighborhood of Philadelphia in 1902 as it 

 otherwise would, while the Detroit firm sends its young 

 cattle to its farm after it is through with them, and from 

 there the disease spread and has made a gTeat deal of trouble. 

 Both the firms in question are said to have had a virus from 

 Japan which they considered particularly active. It is not 

 unlikely that the malady has been imported each time in 

 Japanese vaccine virus, and the present outbreak seems to 

 prove conclusively that the outbreak of 1902-03 was brought 

 here in precisely the same manner as the present one. The 

 present outbreak appears to be well in hand, and there seems 

 to be no danger of its extension to Massachusetts. The United 

 States Department of Agriculture has forbidden shipments 

 of neat cattle, swine, sheep or other ruminants from infected 



