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Show j TUBERCULOSIS IN HOGS. Reports gathered rom the various-meat-packing centers of this country show tuberculosis of hogs to be on the increase and causing heavier loss to raiser and packer alike than any otb'oH disease. Statistics show that a year ago there were over 56,000,000 hogs in this country and their value at that time was over $339,000,000. Federal inspection at the abattoirs of the country show 2 per cent of the hogs slaughtered to be affected with tuberculosis. tuber-culosis. Reports from Europe show a far more widesptead infection that runs as high as 5.5 to 7.5 per cent. The small amount required to start in the hog .raising business and th quick returns on the amount invested invest-ed make it an attractive field for operation. op-eration. Hogs will make greater gains on less feed than almost any other live stock and at the same time utilize profitably waste food products of every variety if properly prepared. As tuberculosis of hogs is chiefly contracted through feeding, the significance sig-nificance of the latter feature is obvious. ob-vious. Hogs fitom Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas are remarkably free from tuberculosis due to the methods of MmmmammammmmmammammMmmm caring for them, or rather the lack of care. They arc not restricted to feed lots, where disease is commonly found, but 'tfoam over large areas ro shift for themselves. No prolonged feeding is practiced in narrow limits, but from birth to maturity they arc pastured on alfalfa, oats, corn, rape, and peanuts. Hogs raised in the forest for-est regions of Hungary arc likewise .rarely affected with tuberculosis. In striking contrast- arc the hogs slaugh-' tered at three cities in one of the leading dairy States where there arc a large number of cooperative creameries and the raw skimmed milk is fed. Samples from two of these creamefrios were injected into guinea pigs and in one instance virulent viru-lent tubercle bacilli were recovered. Buyers' for packing houses axe I beaming frlom bittcfr experience to avoid sections of certain States, and two firms will nat buy hogs from one State known to be badly infected. In fact, many of the smaller packer's in the Central West-buy subject to post 1 mortem inspection as a measure of self-protection. An investigation carried on by the Bureau of Animal Industry in a certain cer-tain section of the Middle West consisted con-sisted of tagging hogs hauled to mark ct in wagons. Of 3,420 animals tagged tag-ged it wais learned that all of the 'affected 'af-fected stock came from less than 6 per cent of the farms. It is known beyond doubt that the majority of tuberculosis hogs arc produced by the following causes: 1. Feeding raw milk and slimc from creameries. 2. Feeding hand-separated milk. from tuberculosis cows. 3. Fekling behind tuberculoses cattle. I 4. Fc:ding tubcnculosis carcas- . S'es. 5. Feeding islraughtlerhousc offal. The danger in feeding hogs behind ( tuberculosis cattle lies in the fact 1 that such cattle, discharge enormous numbers of tuberculosis germs in their feces. Sooner or later the packer will buy subject to post-mortem examination, as some arc now doing with qertain ( classes of female cattle. Then the hog raiser who persists in fattening with tuberculosa material will be made to feel the cost of his indifference indiffer-ence or lack of knowledge. Today If T the buyer makes his' purchases with I the knowledge that a proportion of y his animal's will be condemned dnd the price fixed accordingly, with the result that the careful breeder suffers suf-fers with the careless one. This is not equitable. But when the packer buys subject to post-mortem results' the painstaking and intelligent raiser will receive more than he docs now and the ignorant or indifferent breeder breed-er will get less, v hich is more nearly a fair deal for all concerned. |