330 Foot-and-Mouth Disease. 



The last great epizootic in Europe occurred in 1887, its starting 

 point being Russia. The disease invaded all the countries of the conti- 

 nent, and raging with varying intensity has not been eradicated even 

 up to the present time. 



In Germany the disease commenced to spread rapidly in 1888, and ia 1892 

 it reached its height (number of animals in the newly infected premises: 1,504,299 

 cattle, 2,193,187 sheep, 17,782 goats and 438,262 hogs); from that time on it 

 diminished, but in 1899 it again reached a wide extension (1,885,774 cattle, 1,505,830 

 sheep, 59,535 goats and 814,862 hogs) ; since then the disease has rapidly retro- 

 gressed, so that in November, 1905, the entire Empire was free from the infection. 

 However at~the-end of this month it appeared in isolated herds in western Prussia, 

 from which it spread to the abattoir of Berlin, and thence to the Province of 

 Saxony. At the end of the year 1906, 55 townships were infected. In the following 

 three years it again reached a great extension, first by an introduction from France 

 to southern Germany, later occurring also in the other states, and in the year 

 1908, 324 townships, 18,773 cattle, 19,450 sheep, 179 goats, and 16,081 hogs 

 were affected. In May, 1909, the disease was entirely suppressed, and only one 

 outbreak was afterward established in December at Mittlefranken. 



In France the disease raged severely in 1893. Soon it spread rapidly, and 

 reached its height in the years 1899 and 1900, and from 1901 it gradually retro- 

 gressed, again gaining a great extension in 1906. In 1907 it retrogressed, and 

 at the end of 1908 only two premises in two townships were affected. 



Great Britain was free from the disease between 1895 and 1899. Since 1900 

 however, several townships have been infected annually, in spite of the fact that the 

 importation of living cloven-footed animals from the continent has been prohibited 

 since that year. In each instance, the outbreaks were localized by slaughtering 

 the affected herds. In the years between 1903-1908 the entire territory of the 

 Kingdom was free from the disease, with the exception of an outbreak in the 

 vicinity of Ipswich in January, 1906, and another in Edinburgh in 1908. . 



Holland was very severely infected in the years of 1897-1899 (868,206 and 

 122,867 cases of infections). Since that time however the disease has rapidly 

 diminished. In 1907 it gained again a greater extension (17,816 outbreaks with 

 341,287 cases in 11 provinces). Since the second half of 1908 only isolated cases 

 have occurred. 



In Austria the infection was very widely spread in 1891 (247,946 cattle, 

 32,423 sheep, 5,013 goats, and 18,741 hogs were affected). It diminished rapidly 

 until 1894 (7,462 cattle, 617 sheep, 45 goats, 1,379 hogs). From that time on a 

 rapid extension up to 1896 took place (305,934 cattle, 11,422 sheep, 1,032 goats, 

 and 18,816 hogs), whereupon an improvement was noted, and the Empire was 

 considered entirely free in 1901. Since that time it Spread again, and in the 

 years from 1904 to 1906 was widely spread, especially in Poland and Bohemia. In 

 the subsequent two years it raged with varying, but mostly with mild intensity, 

 and toward the end of the year only 12 premises in seven townships were infected. 



In Hungary the disease which had been introduced in 1889 from the southeast, 

 reached its height in the subsequent year (561,950 cattle, 337,566 sheep and goats, 

 and 370,425 hogs) ; later it showed a diminution up to 1894, but in 1896 it again 

 attained wide extension (572,809- cattle, 178,612 sheep and goats, 82,931 hogs). 

 In 1901 the entire Kingdom was free for six months; in the fall of this year the 

 disease reappeared as the result of an introduction from Eoumania, and since 

 that time has again attained wide extension. In 1903, in 2,516 townships, 434,221 

 cattle, 30,533 sheep and goats, and 10,951 hogs, were affected. From that time 

 on the condition improved, in 1907 however, in the northwestern part of Hungary, 

 on the Polish border a badly infected locality was discovered which radiated all 

 through the country, and in 1908, in 108 townships, 16,988 cattle, 491 sheep and 

 goats, and 48 hogs were still affected. 



Eoumania was severely affected in 1907 (677,465 cases of infection). Since 

 that time the disease has diminished (in 1908 11,038 cases). In Russia in 1907, 

 596,977 cases occurred in 6,320 townships; in 1908, in 3,274 townships, 292,302 

 cases. The disease also occurred in 1908 in Belgium, in 11 townships, with 147 

 cases; in Italy, in 47 provinces, ■vfrith 138,887 cases; in Switzerland, in 96 townships, 

 with 13,555 cases (in 1909 the disease attained in the latter country a great 

 extension), while in Bulgaria 61 townships were affected; Denmark, Norway, Sweden 

 and Servia were free from the infection. 



Since the outbreak of 1870 in the United States, only a few limited outbreaks 

 have occurred. In the fall of 1902 the disease appeared in the States of Massa- 

 chusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, but was eradicated in a few 

 months by energetic measures (see veterinary police). In the fall of 1908 the 



