Cattle Plague. 639 



for sheep and other ruminants under strict veterinary supervision 

 is safe as regards the importation of cattle plague in live animals. 

 The greatest danger will doubtless come from intercourse with 

 the Phillipines, which were infected with the cattle plague during 

 the recent war. The greatest possible precautions as regards the 

 carriage of cattle on transports or other ships, will be necessary. 

 Not only should no Phillipine cattle be imported, but no vessel, 

 that has carried Phillipine cattle or sheep, should be allowed to 

 take on board home cattle nor other ruminants until it has been 

 thoroughly disinfected. 



Cattle or sheep should be rejected when imported on ships 

 which, on the same voyage or a recent one, carried fresh hides or 

 other fresh products of animals, derived from a country in which 

 rinderpest exists. 



Hides that are thoroughly dried and .salted, those that have 

 been freely exposed for one week to the sun and air, atid such as 

 have been treated by active antiseptics, (caustic quicklime, mer- 

 curic chloride, lime chloride, formalin, phenic acid, etc.), need 

 be held under no such restriction. The same applies to thoroughly 

 dried, sunned and aired hair, wool, hoofs, horns, bones and 

 sinews. Rendered tallow is equally safe. 



Extinction of Cattle Plague in a Country. This should never 

 be called for on the American Continent. The introduction of 

 such adeadly disease, with such a short period of incubation, and 

 such severe symptoms and rapid course, would argue a most repre- 

 hensible carelessness, which it is to be hoped will never be shown 

 by the Federal Bureau of Animal Industry. Yet under the stress 

 of a great European war this plague invariably overleaps the 

 barriers successfully maintained in time of peace, and the same 

 has happened to the two great English-.speaking powers in con- 

 nection with the wars in South Africa and the Phillipines respect- 

 ively and therefore it cannot be said that importation is impossible 

 under any possible circum.stances. 



In case of a recent importation the infection would be easily 

 controlled. Trace at once to its destination every bovine animal 

 and other ruminant that arrived on the infected vessel, and all 

 that came in contact with them since, or with the gangways, 

 wharfs, streets, highways, yards, houses, fields, cars, loading 

 banks and other places and things that might have been contami- 



