public health and agricultural authorities unless 
the material is heat-treated and the establishment 
is maintained in a sanitary condition. The feeding 
of uncooked garbage is important in the trans- 
mission of trichinosis among swine and is thereby 
responsible for a greater incidence of human cases. 
In the United States, surveys made in 1938 (Hall, 
M. C., 1938) (26) indicated that approximately 1 
person out of 6, or 17 percent, probably harbored 
trichinae. In Canada, where garbage cooking has 
been practiced for a number of years, the degree of 
human infection is estimated at about 7 percent of 
the population (Poole, J. B., 1953) (38). 
In 1952, widespread outbreaks of vesicular 
exanthema,* a serious virus disease of hogs spread 
largely through the feeding of uncooked garbage, 
led to the enactment and enforcement of garbage 
treatment regulations in most States. In all, forty- 
six States have adopted such regulations. 
These laws require the heating of garbage to a 
temperature of 212° F for a period of 30 minutes. 
Well designed equipment should be used for cook- 
ing the garbage, since some equipment, especially 
“home made” and improvised devices, do not 
always distribute heat equally throughout the mass. 
This results in “dead spots” which may remain 
below 212° for some time after other portions of 
the garbage have reached the required temperature. 
Heat treatment, when carried out properly for the 
control of the virus of vesicular exanthema, will 
also kill trichinae encysted in the tissues of pork 
scraps, as well as any fly eggs, larvae, or pupae 
that may be present. 
Hog farms where garbage feeding is practiced, 
are often in such an insanitary condition as to 
allow much fly and rat breeding and some mosquito 
breeding. The odor originating from the typical 
insanitary hog farm is a decided nuisance to ad- 
joining properties. 
In order to control fly and rat breeding and, to a 
certain extent, the odor nuisance, several addi- 
tional measures need to be taken. First, all feeding 
should be carried out on platforms constructed of 
acid-resistant concrete, brick with asphalt filler, 
or other impervious, easily washable materials. 
These platforms should be equipped with splash 
curbs and drains. All uneaten garbage, together 
with hog excrement on the platforms and in the 
pen area, should be removed after each feeding 
and disposed of by burying, incineration, or com- 
•Bankowskl, R. A. 1954. Vesicular Exanthema In the 
United States — Some Epidemiologic Aspects of the 
Disease. American Journal of Public Health. 44(9): 
1119-1123. 
posting. The feeding platforms should be washed 
with water under pressure after removal of the 
uneaten residue and the liquid conveyed by drains 
to a septic tank, tile-field disposal system, a 
leaching pit, or a sanitary sewer. When done thor- 
oughly, dry cleaning of feeding platforms may be 
satisfactory. Inedible objects that may be con- 
tained in the garbage, such as cans, bottles, and 
crockery, should be disposed of in a manner that 
will not provide rat harborage or permit mosquito 
breeding. 
A11 material offering rat harborage should be 
removed or stored in an orderly manner on racks at 
least 12 inches off the floor or ground. Grains and 
feed should be stored in ratproof bins. If all these 
sanitary precautions are taken, there can be no 
serious public health objections to feeding garbage 
to hogs. 
Grinding 
An excellent method of garbage disposal for 
homes and for restaurants and some other busi- 
nesses is by grinding it and discharging it into a 
sanitary sewer. A few cities have used strategi- 
cally located central grinding stations for disposal 
of this type of waste, flushing the ground material 
into the city sewer or directly into the sewage 
treatment plant. However, this method of disposal 
does not eliminate the need for adequate premise 
storage of garbage and its frequent collection, nor 
for satisfactory storage and removal of rubbish. 
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