VOL,. LXVIII
£> I
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 19, ls|
NO. 29
•£5
■s* r
A Campaign to Stamp Out Hog Cholera
Whether or not it is possible to completely stamp out the dreaded hog cholera by the use of serum is the huge
problem that the Government has undertaken to solve. It has tor some time
been known that the serum treatment
is an effective one when properly administered. Young pigs are made immune and older ones are cured if treatment is given in the flrst stages of the
disease. The Indiana Experiment Station, under the direction of Dr. Craig,
has furnished serum with which about
8,000 hogs in this state have been vaccinated. Out of this number, it is reported that in cases where treatment
was given after the herds were infected
only six per cent were lost, and in cases
where the herds were free from the
disease and only susceptible to it, but
two per cent were lost. It was also
noted that this two per cent loss was
not due to cholera but usually to blood
poisoning which would set in as a result
of contamination with dirt, etc., about
the hog house or lot after the vaccination had taken place.
Government Sees Need of Work.
The results in this state are borne out
by the results of trials and tests conducted in other states and by the Government Department of Agriculture.
Yet the loss from hog cholera is the
greatest menace to the hog industry.
With these facts in view Congress appropriated a sum of money, and placed
it in the hands of the Bureau of Animal Husbandry, to be used in conducting trial campaigns against the disease
in a few respective localities throughout
the United States. Four counties, one
in Iowa, one in Missouri, one in Nebraska and one in Indiana, were selected where the hog industry is conducted on a large scale and where the
farmers have a good organization.
Why Montgomery County was Honored.
Montgomery county, Indiana, was selected and is 'to be congratulated for
bringing the honor to the state. This
selection was made not because more
hogs were raised in that county than in
any other county in the state or because
it is better located, but chiefly because
the Montgomery County Better Farming Association ls a large and very active organization that is noted for the
things that it has done in the way of
improving agricultural conditions in the
county. Another reason for the choice
of this county ls that it produces a large
number of hogs and that at the present
time several herds are infected with
cholera and need prompt attention.
Plan of the Campaign.
At a meeting held ln Crawfordsville,
July 9 a large number of hog raisers
showed their Interest in the movement
and their desire to co-operate with it,
in their attendance and discussions.
Drs. Houk and Niles, the government
experts, explained the campaign. Dr.
Houk is to stay in the county Indefinitely. He is to have four assistants in the
beginning of the work and one later on
when the work is well started. The
county is to receive $25,000 from the
government to conduct the trial.   A list
Government to Conduct Work in Montgomery
County.
of every hog raiser in the county, with
the number of hogs he has, will be
made, and whenever a herd of hogs
shows signs of sickness the owner will
report the fact to those in charge of the
work. ^Immediately the sick herd will
be inspected and if cholera is  present
cases where disinfection is needed the
hog raiser will be asked to disinfect, but
aside from this the farmer will not be
put to any expense.
Indiana's loss Due to Cholera.
Professor G. I. Christie, in a talk, said
Healthy Pigs are an Asset to any Farm.
will be vaccinated free of cost, and all
surrounding herds that it is thought are
in danger will be given the immunity
treatment. The serum that will be used
is produced by the government department at Ames, in co-operation with the
Iowa Experiment    Station.      In    some
that great things would undoubtedly result from the campaign not only for
Montgomery county but for the entire
state. "Indiana raises annually something over 3,000,000 hogs," said Prof.
Christie. "Two years ago the loss from
cholera in the state was about $150,000,
Concrete foundation for barn in Hamilton county. Sanitary surroundings
are essential in the hog business and for this reason concrete floors are desirable. Many barns and hog houses are now being built on concrete foundations
similar to this one.
last year this loss was $178,000. If
this campaign to stamp out cholera is
successful and is adopted by the hog
raisers throughout the state, within two
years the amount, $25,000, which is being spent by the government for the
trial, will be saved. This is a step towards getting farming on a business
basis."
Dr. Craig1, the veterinarian at Purdue, talked on how cholera spreads and
how to care for a diseased hog prior to
vaccination. "The spread of hog cholera is from sick hogs, only," he said.
"In no other way can a herd become infected. But there are many ways by
which the cholera germs may be carried." He then told of how stockmen
and buyers who go from farm to farm
might carry the germ3 on their shoes,
how birds, wagon wheels, dogs, etc.,
might spread the germs also. "On a
large farm in the northern part of the
state," he said, "a farmer kept his hogs
in the center of his place far away from
any source of contamination with cholera germs yet the hogs took sick. He
was at a loss to know how the herd became infected until by accident it was
discovered that a dog had carried a
bone to his feed lot from the carcass of
a hog that had died from cholera five
miles away."
Caring for Sick Hogs.
In speaking of caring for hogs, Dr.
Craig said that dirt about the house and
lot encouraged disease. When a hog is
sick and the veterinarian is expected,
the house should be cleaned and disinfected with some sort of a liquid disinfectant. The hog should then be confined so that it may be caught easily
thus causing no excitement that would
result in an unnatural temperature of
the animal. Allow no hog to be vaccinated unless its temperature ls flrst
taken. Keep dust down in the hog house
the day previous to vaccinating by
spraying the floor. The hog may also
be sprayed with a one per cent solution
of some coal tar preparation. After
treatment feed on light diet.
Dr. Nelson, State Veterinarian, urged
co-operation in the movement, for by the
united effort of all can the campaign
be made most successful.
In answer to questions. Dr. Nelson
explained some of the regulations which
were passed by the last session of the
State Legislature governing the prevention, spread and control of infectious
diseases among swine.
It is a great honor for a county to be
one of four that is selected out of all
the counties in the United States, for
government work, and it Is also a great
honor to have such men as Dr. Niles,
who was one of the men who discovered
the serum that is used ln the treatment
of hog cholera, and Dr. Houk, who has
had a long experience in working with
the serum, selected to come to the
county in this state to conduct the
work.
Montgomery county will be greatly
benefited by the number of hogs that
will be saved but the state as a whole
will proflt by knowing what can be done
when serum is properly used.