Oct. io, 1913 
Cysticercus Ovis 
49 
if not enough are swallowed to kill the animal, it may be made sick by 
the invasion of the parasites. Accordingly it is quite probable that 
many of the cases of death and sickness, which are more or less con¬ 
stantly occurring among sheep without apparent cause, are the result 
of infestation with the measle parasite. 
It has been suggested by Dr. S. W. McClure that sheep measles may 
be responsible for the many stiff lambs found during spring and summer 
on the western sheep ranges. 
SIGNIFICANCE IN MEAT INSPECTION 
As Cysticercus ovis affects the very part of the carcass which is the 
most valuable as food—namely, the musculature—it is of great interest 
in meat inspection and of special importance on account of its prevalence. 
Under a system of meat inspection which recognizes but one class of 
meats as fit for food, such as the system provided for by Federal law in 
this country, it is proper to pass for food sheep carcasses which show a 
slight infestation with Cysticercus ovis after the removal of the parasites 
and any lesions caused by them. Carcasses showing more than a slight 
infestation may be rendered into edible tallow, but if heavily infested 
should be condemned. As a rule, packers do not take advantage of the 
provision which permits moderately infested carcasses to be rendered 
into tallow, but prefer to treat such carcasses the same as condemned 
carcasses and to manufacture them into inedible products. Though it 
is possible that all the parasites may not be found and removed from 
slightly infested carcasses, since it is manifestly impracticable to inspect 
the depths of the musculature throughout the carcass, it has been deter¬ 
mined by experience that there is little likelihood that more than one or 
two, if any, cysts will be present in the depths of the muscles if only a 
few are found in the heart, diaphragm, head muscles, tongue, and other 
superficial or readily accessible parts. Accordingly, if only a limited 
number of the parasites are found in these locations, there is no reason¬ 
able objection to passing such a carcass after their removal. 
Fven if carcasses are occasionally passed which contain a few cysts 
that have escaped observation because hidden in the musculature, no 
great harm is done, since the parasites are not transmissible to man and 
at most can only offend the esthetic sense of the consumer. Certainly 
the consequences of passing such carcasses do not balance the great 
waste which would result if all sheep carcasses infested in any degree 
whatsoever (amounting to 1, 2, 3, perhaps even 5, per cent of the total 
number slaughtered) were excluded from use as food. In the light of 
our present knowledge the German regulations are unnecessarily strin¬ 
gent in placing sheep measles in the same category as pork measles, the 
basis of these regulations, of course, being the unproved and apparently 
altogether false assumption that the parasite concerned is Cysticercus 
