Taking these two diseases separately-- 
Rinderpest is a disease that many Americans have never heard of, 
because it has been kept out of this country thus far. It has been killing 
oxen, cows, and pigs in Old Worid countries since ancient times, Rinder- 
pest is a problem in many parts of the world today. 
Foot-and-mouth disease, unlike rinderpest, has been introduced into 
the United States, and not merely once but nine times since 1870. Each 
time it has been fought to a finish by slaughtering infected and exposed 
animals. If allowed to spread, foot-and-mouth disease would attack all 
kinds of cloven-hoofed animals on farms, in zoos, in wildlife ranges, The 
virus can survive, not only in an animal, but in its bedding or feed or in 
dirty equipment. In uncooked meat, the virus can remain alive for several 
months, Two of this country’s outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease were 
traced to ships’ garbage fed uncooked to hogs. The United States has not 
had to fight this disease in its own animals since 1929. In 1946 foot-and- 
mouth disease broke out in Mexico and, because this was close to the 
United States, our country joined with Mexico in the drastic program of 
slaughter and quarantines necessary to safeguard animal life of both 
countries. For seven years, a patrol was maintained along the 2,100 miles 
of the United States-Mexico land boundary with such vigilance that no 
animal evaded the patrol to infect this country. Not until 1954 was the 
border reopened, The program cost the United States $130 million dollars, 
the price of avoiding much greater loss. It has been estimated that foot- 
and-mouth disease in the United States today could cost our livestock 
industry and the public more than $200 million a year. 
Newcastle disease is an example of the importance of quarantine to 
protect this country’s poultry and game birds, The virus that causes 
Newcastle disease is like a family with a criminal streak: some members 
act as weak offenders, some as violent killers. Weak forms of the New- 
castle virus have been in the United States for years, accepted asa 
nuisance but less serious than some other poultry ills. But in 1950, game 
birds from China brought a virulent Asiatic strain of Newcastle virus into 
the United States, endangering the entire poultry industry. The virus was 
wiped out but only constant vigilance can keep it out. The Asiatic virus is 
deceptively like its milder cousin and, therefore, foreign birds that might 
harbor this virulent form are quarantined for 21 days or longer under 
veterinary supervision, 
Defenses Are Strong, But Need Strengthening 
Federal animal quarantines have kept the United States from acquiring 
new kinds of animal diseases for more than half a century with almost 100 
percent success, 
Federal plant inspection and quarantine measures were established 
considerably later than the first animal quarantine law of 1884, The Fed- 
eral Plant Quarantine Act of 1912 was the basis of the protective system 
against the entry of foreign plant pests. Later, that system was greatly 
strengthened by the enactment of the Federal Plant Pest Act of 1957, The 
system is credited with reducing new pest arrivals to a marked extent. 
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1959, inspectors intercepted more than 
25,000 lots of destructive plant pests, an average of some pest halted 
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