April, 1909.] 



357 



TAve Stock, 



cultural Review. Our work in this 

 respect, however, is not finished, and the 

 campaigu will be continued through the 

 medium of publications, the division of 

 extension work, with the aid of teachers 

 in the provinces, and through official 

 channels. The Filipino people hs a 

 whole have shown a spirit of indifference 

 toward the efforts to aid them in throw- 

 ing off this plague, and they will no 

 doubt retain this attitude until they at e 

 educated along the lines above indicated. 

 This will requite time, patience and 

 proper facilities, but it is not a task 

 impossible of accomplishment if it is 

 properly handled. 



Those who have been attempting the 

 control of rindeipest in these Islands 

 have had many years of experience 

 which have given them an insight into 

 the conditions regarding control of this 

 disease here which even Dr. Koch could 

 not possibly possess without visiting 

 here and thoroughly studying the pro- 

 blem in person. He has not been here, 

 and this fact constitutes a satisfactory 

 reason for disagreeing with him on some 

 of the points mentioned in his interview. 



The conditions as to location, topo- 

 graphy and climate are well under- 

 stood and may be dropped from further 

 consideration. There is a trade condi- 

 tion which demands the importation 

 of cattle from China and Indo-China, 



Erincipally for slaughter in Manila, 

 ast year almost 70 per cent, of the 

 imported cattle received in Manila Avere 

 slaughtered within the municipal limits 

 of this city within a few days after 

 arrival. The inoculation of this class 

 of cattle alone with a single injeetiou 

 of 50 cubic centimeters of serum would 

 cost the Government or owners about 

 $50,000 per annum in serum, services, 

 and expenses. It would certainly be a 

 bad business practice without hope of 

 giving the desired results. 



It seems desirable to inoculate all 

 imported cattle shipped to the provin- 

 ces. However, as 80 per cent, of these 

 are slaughtered in the towns neat- 

 Manila within a few days after ship- 

 ment, and are not allowed to go out 

 of this city except when free from 

 disease, there is some question about 

 the advisability of inoculating them. 



The draft animals used for heavy 

 street work in the cities consist almost 

 entirely of carabaos. The percentage 

 of immune animals among these is not 

 known but is probably quite large, as 

 they have for many years had ample 

 opportunity for exposure to the disease, 

 but in recent years very few of them 

 appear to contract it. Those which are 

 not already permanently immune by 



virtue of having had the disease are 

 not liable to come into contact with 

 it if the exclusion of infected animals 

 is rigidly enforced. Even if given anti- 

 rinderpest serum it would not prove 

 an absolute guarantee against their 

 contracting the disease, as its immuniz- 

 ing value decreases rapidly during a 

 period of three or four months, after 

 which it has but little effect. 



Dr. Koch has certainly reached the 

 proper conclusion with reference to the 

 extensive use of serum inoculation in 

 localities where the disease exists. If 

 the available supply of serum is large 

 enough to inoculate liberally around 

 all outbreaks, and thereby temporarily 

 immunize all animals liable to exposure, 

 the results are always excellent. A 

 given amount of serum used in this 

 way yields much better results than 

 could possibly be obtained in corrals 

 of importers or in general provincial 

 inoculations where no rinderpest pre- 

 vailed at the time. 



Another condition which may have 

 much influence on this question' is the 

 presence in some parts of the provinces 

 of wild carabao. They are in all essen- 

 tial respects the same as the domestic 

 animal ordinarily used for draft pur- 

 poses in these Islands, and will no doubt 

 contract the disease whenever they are 

 exposed to the infection. Deer are also 

 very commoc throughout the Archi- 

 pelago, and there are some authentic 

 cases, especially in the mountains of 

 Benguet, where they have contracted 

 and spread the disease to herds of cattle. 

 The instances of this kind which are 

 liable to occur are comparatively few, 

 but may be a final determining factor 

 as to whether or not the disease will be 

 completely eradicated here. If wild 

 carabao and deer prove important 

 agents in carrying the infection, con- 

 trol of the disease may be indefinitely 

 delayed. Such animals can neither be 

 inoculated nor quarantined. The only 

 alternative, in case they prove a serious 

 obstacle, is to wait patiently the slow 

 process of extermination by the disease. 

 In the meantime, it will do much more 

 harm to the domestic than to the wild 

 animals. 



In the meagre advices received, Dr. 

 Koch does not appear to have mentioned 

 the value of quarantine. This omission 

 was no doubt inadvertent as he is fullv 

 aware of its value in dealing with severe 

 infective diseases. As a means to an end, 

 a quarantine that is really effective is 

 more important than any other one 

 measure used here. It includes the 

 exclusion of diseased cattle from foreign 

 countries, holding those allowed to land 

 long enough to make sure they do not 



