which has been neglected in the way of feeding or care. A herd of swine wallowing in filth and eating insufficient and germ laden food offers very favorable conditions for the ravages of this disease. One peculiarity is, however, that fat hogs seem more susceptible than those in ordinary feeding or growing condition. In either case, the vitality has been reduced. An unsanitary condition may lower the vitality of hogs and increase the danger of recurrence of the disease, but cholera can be started in a herd only by the introduction of the germ which causes it, and we wish to emphasize the fact that cholera is seriously infectious, and any one claiming to the contrary must be given no credence, as all medical and scientific men agree as to this fact.

SYMPTOMS.

The symptoms of this disease are so varying that no reliable guide can be offered to detect its presence, also, there are two forms, acute and chronic, which present different outward evidences; so that the disease often gains a strong foothold in any community before its presence is determined. At the beginning, of an outbreak in a herd usually, but one or two animals seem sick and no particular characteristic seems evident. Later, other animals become sick and then the amount and virulence of the infection increases. The symptoms most evident during an epidemic of hog cholera are as follows:

1. Failure to come up for food or refusal to eat.

2. Lying together in pens or nest.

3. Vomiting.

4. Coughing.

5. Stiffness, indicated by staggering about.

6. Discharge from eyes or sticking together of eyelids.

7. Redness of skin, noticeable on white hogs.

8. Rise in temperature.

9. Constipation, alternated by profuse diarrhea.

A careful examination, made even by an experienced veterinarian. will not always disclose sufficient evidence of the disease, and the diag nosis is not trustworthy without a postmortem examination to determine internal lesions.

The diseases which are most often taken for hog cholera are: Anthrax, worms, and digestive troubles. However, if any considerable number of hogs die on a farm or in a community from a contagious or infectious disease, it is safe to suggest hog cholera as the disease causing the loss. If a careful diagnosis is made early, serious loss may be prevented by segregation of well ones to clean quarters and controlling the spread of infection.

SPREADING.

The infective agent of hog cholera is just as virulent and dangerous to hogs as is the smallpox virus to people. The manure of a sick hog is perhaps largely responsible for the rapid spread of the disease, since the excretion contaminates the food supply unless extreme care is used. The feces or infected manure retain their virulence from 65 to 95 days and requires most vigorous disinfecting and renovating to be destroyed. The cholera infected hog which has died and been left unburied is a great

danger in a neighborhood. Various animals, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, buzzards, and pigeons are carriers of the disease. The germs may be carried on the shoes and clothing of any one handling the hogs, and thus carried to healthy herds. All curious visitors and neighborly calls should be kept outside of the infected yards. Vehicles or tools used around the disease need a thorough disinfection as do the people and clothes which come in contact with the hogs. Running streams are carriers of the disease, and they often carry infection down stream where there are outbreaks above. The old time hog-wallow is certainly a gatherer of disease germs.

People sometimes think anything is good enough for the hog, simply because he is a hog. Let us give him pure drinking water and a healthy bathing place and keep him decently surrounded by sanitary conditions. The simple, clean, feeding pens mentioned above combined with sanitary surroundings will do much to lessen the spread of infection. The practice of using public stock yards and scales for handling infected herds is a serious offense against the law. Whenever cholera hogs are to be handled or treated, it should be done under quarantine regulations. Freezing weather usually tends to check the progress of cholera, but does not eradicate it; and it lingers through cold weather to appear again as soon as favorable conditions prevail. A hot, dry, prolonged summer usually will do more to disinfect premises than any other natural agency.

CURES.

We must bear in mind the emphatic statement that as yet there is no known cure for the disease and no treatment that is effective in all cases. Do not be mislead by the quack medicine vender, or the person who is exploiting some wonderful curative treatment. The only lines we have to work upon are preventive methods and serum treatment for immunizing the animals; and these treatments are meeting with but varying degrees of success. Sick hogs should be treated by a competent veterinarian just as skilled physicians are employed for the human family. Ignorant and untrained men going about the country advertising their wares are not competent to diagnose cases, or post animals, and should be refused permission to experiment with the disease and thus scatter the infection.

The serum treatment for immunizing hogs has, when properly administered, proved trustworthy in a great many cases, and also been the cause of disappointment and loss in other cases. Much depends upon the skill and experience of the one who does the work and also the sanitary conditions and watchful care given the herd, but even when these details are carefully watched, the potency of the serum is an important matter. The making and placing upon the market of serums and viruses form a wide field for unscrupulous dealers, and needs careful watching, as loss and trouble result from using impure or valueless serum. This point emphasizes the fact that our legislature should provide sufficient funds to allow the State to produce and send out pure and potent serum to all farmers within its borders, the serum to cost the users only the amount necessary for its manufacture.

The best weapon to use in avoiding so widespread a scourge as

cholera is that of co-operation. The federal authorities are helping in this work. The State and Michigan Agricultural College are doing the very best they can under present laws and conditions. The co-operation of organized counties for such work is of inestimable value. The plan as followed in Branch county, where federal, State and county officials are working in co-operation to eradicate the disease from selected areas is reported below. Even where these exact combinations are not worked together, much good can be realized by county organization to control the disease. If local boards of health in the townships, public officials, and citizens would be watchful and careful in reporting suspected cases, much good could be accomplished. Supervisors and all boards of health have power to quarantine and handle such cases until they can be relieved by the State Department, and they can be of great service to their townships by so doing. If farmers will only co-operate and do as they would be done by in keeping infection from their neighbors, much trouble and loss could be avoided. It is no disgrace to have hog cholera break out on the premises, but it is a disgrace to allow it to spread to neighboring herds.

SUMMARY.

Before offering some tentative plans which our Commission have in mind, we wish to summarize by mentioning some points of caution: 1. Do not remove the infected hogs to fresh quarters and leave the well ones to take the infection from the yards and pens.

2. Do not allow hogs infected or exposed to cholera to run upon the highways or run at large. Such hogs should be confined in close quarantine.

3. Do not fail to burn or bury with powerful disinfectants all carcasses of cholera hogs.

4. Do not waste your money in "hog cholera cures," as they are frauds and worthless.

5. Do not expect serum or virus treatments to be cure-alls; and purchase only of those firms known to be honorable.

6. DON'T buy hogs from any person outside of your own community and then only when you are positive that cholera has not and does not exist in that particular place.

7. DON'T allow any persons from infected localities to visit your pens under any circumstances.

8. DON'T visit any place where the disease exists as you can carry the disease to your own stock.

9. The cleaning and disinfection of infected premises is a matter that will vary in detail with each case; therefore affected parties will observe the special oral instructions given by the representative of the Commission to supplement these general directions.

10. Cleaning and disinfection must follow, not precede the proper separation of the well and the affected animals and must be repeated in the event of further cause of the disease in question appearing on the premises.

11. There must be a thorough cleaning of the buildings and yards that have been used by the affected animals; first of all, gross litter such as manure, bedding, fodder, loose woodwork, and any other refuse

capable of harboring the infected discharges of the affected animals must be removed; second, the walls, floor, and ceiling must be freed of all dust and dirt and the yards raked free from all litter.

12. The walls, floors and ceiling cleaned as indicated above must be thoroughly treated with a 3 per cent solution of compound solution of cresol, or other disinfectants equally as effective the yards must be covered with fresh burned lime and this should be followed by whitewashing walls and ceilings.

13. It is hereby made the duty of all local boards of health to whom cases of contagious or infectious diseases are reported to immediately investigate the same either in person or by some member or members of the board or by the employment of a competent and skillful veterinarian. And also to report their findings to the Live Stock Sanitary Commission, Lansing, Mich.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

This Department has given much thought upon this serious question and after receiving many proposed methods of handling the disease in the State, are prepared to make the following recommendations of a plan which we believe to be unique, practicable, and efficient, and a money saving to both hog raisers and the State alike: In cases which are suspected or well defined, the owner of such hogs shall immediately load all hogs in his herd into box cars, the same to be shipped to some packing plant where State or federal inspection is maintained and condemned or used according to the recommendation of the inspector making the inspection. The uninfected animals would then be passed and used for food, while those that have the disease would be put into phosphate, according as their condition would warrant. The owner to get all the receipts above the cost of shipping and handling. We would further recommend that the handling and shipping be entirely in the hands of this Department or an authorized agent, they being the judge of the expediency of this plan or the substituting of serum treatment where advisable.

The movement of an infected herd should be made in tight-bottom racks, and transferred to box cars without the herd having to pass through the public stock yards, these box cars to be plainly marked "exposed to hog cholera." All vehicles, tools, persons handling such shipment, as well as the premises to receive thorough disinfecting im mediately. This plan, we believe, would be a decided gain to the owner as he would receive something for his herd instead of allowing them to remain subject to infection, which in time usually results in complete loss. He can then do strenuous cleaning up with the assistance of the State, and restock as soon as satisfactory measures are employed. The public at large would surely be safe-guarded by having all infection quickly removed from the vicinity. This Department, we believe, could make such a plan effective by the co-operation of the local health officers, and permission to restock would rest in the hands of this Department.

We further recommend that legislation be taken which would give into the hands of the live stock sanitary commission control of all distribution of virus, for, while it may be a valuable agent as a preventive, it is

acknowledged to be a dangerous proposition in the hands of unqualified persons. We recommend the same supervision over the distribution of all serum, and so called hog cholera cures.

As a final recommendation, which will give value to all other efforts or propositions, we wish to suggest the continuance of the present close co-operation between the Bacteriology Department of the Michigan Agricultural College and this Commission. Valuable work, plans, and scientific knowledge have been received from that Department under Dr. Giltner and his associates, and this commission would be sadly crippled without this co-operation.

REPORT OF STATE REPRESENTATIVE IN BRANCH COUNTY.

Hog cholera control work was taken up in Branch county, Mich., by the federal authorities May 1, 1914. The State College co-operated by securing a census, relative to the number of hogs raised in 1912-1913 and the number of hogs in the county at the present time, which was to be used for comparing results. Educational work among the farmers and the perfecting of township organizations was carried on by Dr. Hallman, associate professor of pathology at the college and Dr. Newton of the government force. Educational work in the form of personal interviews was attempted by myself after June 20 and for which the State College paid one-half of my salary and expenses.

The function of the Live Stock Sanitary Commission has been to see that the proper quarantine and sanitary measures, demanded by the project, were carried out. The quarantine measures which I have enforced during the past six months have been as rigid as I believed necessary to the welfare of the project but I believe that if the work is to be continued it would be advisable to enforce more rigid measures on infected farms.

The disinfecting apparatus has consisted of three small hand spray pumps, which though effective, on a small scale, caused a great deal of delay. We hope in the future to be supplied with a small power disinfecting apparatus. The purchase of the disinfactant has been left to the farmer. If it was supplied it would greatly facilitate the work.

The serum-simultaneous method of immunizing hogs against cholera was administered to well hogs by an Orland Ind., veterinarian and caused outbreaks on thirteen farms, the loss being 136 head which shall be included in the total number of hogs which died of cholera in 1914. I believe that the serum alone treatment should be strictly adhered to.

The attitude of the farmers regarding this campaign so far has been good. In only a few instances did we meet with any opposition and we have every reason to believe that we will have the hearty co-operation of every farmer in Branch Co., if the work is carried on another year. Cost of maintaining quarantine and sanitation.

(a)

Salary of representative paid out of State fund.........

$200 00 (b) Expenses of representative paid out of State fund.... 279 14

Total

Respectfully submitted,

.8479 14

B. B. ADAMS,

State Representative in Branch Co.