By K. N.
In
1914, several farms in 22 of the 50 states of the United States were effected
by Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic. The Foot and Mouth Disease was most
destructive in Michigan and Illinois, so the disease inevitably spread to
Indiana as well and infected the farms of Indiana. The origin of the Foot and
Mouth Disease was in Europe, and was first spread intentionally to Michigan on
a hog farm; hogs were the first animals to be affected by the Foot and Mouth
Disease in America. Just two weeks after the first hogs were affected by the
Foot and Mouth Disease, cattle, which were from the same farm as the first
diseased hogs, were showing similar symptoms of illnesses as the hogs. The
original diagnosis of the illness was not Foot and Mouth Disease, but rather
they only thought that the effected animals were simply just showing symptoms
of Necrotic Stomatitis (Mohler, 1924) .
Veterinarians took action and transferred the infection from the affected
cattle and injected the infection into healthy cattle. After injecting the infected
areas into healthy calves, the bureau of Animal Industry discovered that the
disease was the European Foot and Mouth Disease and asked that they receive
assistance from each states government in the decimation of all cattle and
hogs, and other diseased and exposed animals, that are effected by the disease
or live on the same farms as effected cattle and hogs.
To
begin a procedure of control towards the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic, the
bureau of Animal Industry demanded a quarantine of all animals diseased by, or
exposed to, the Foot and Mouth Disease. All animals that were infected with the
Foot and Mouth Disease were to be destroyed. Along with the disease-infected
animals, all animals exposed to the diseased animals were to be destroyed as well,
or quarantined from the healthy animals in designated quarantine areas.
Quarantining healthy animals from being exposed to the Foot and Mouth Disease
was also very important to take action to. Cattle and hogs were the most
prominently struck animals by the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic, but other
animals were also infected with the disease.
The other animals whom were affected by the Foot and Mouth Disease
epidemic included sheep, goat, buffalo,
American bison, camel, deer, chamois, llama, giraffe, antelope, horses, dogs,
cats, and poultry (U.S. Department of Agriculture
Discusses Prevetion and Cure for Terrible Foot and Mouth Disease, 1914) . If an animal were to live on the same farm as
a diseased animal, both the diseased and the healthy animal were ordered to be
slaughtered. The milk of diseased cattle
began to make people who drank the milk, suffer from the disease as well. As a result, the bureau of Animal Industry
did not allow the slaughtering of exposed animals for purposes of food.
In
order to eradicate Foot and Mouth Disease, there were three main types of
measures taken to do so; immunization, quarantine and disinfection, and
slaughter and disinfection (Mohler, 1924) . Immunization was less successful towards
eradication of Foot and Mouth Disease because it required very large doses of
serum to be able treat the animal. The
large doses of serum for immunization towards the disease-infected animals
resulted in high prices. Quarantine and
disinfection seemed nearly impossible because the Foot and Mouth Disease was so
easily spread. Even if diseased animals
were kept in sanitary areas, the cost to quarantine compared to the cost of
slaughtering was much more expensive.
When quarantine measures were taken, there were designated quarantine
areas in a state. The consensus
eventually became that animals impacted by the Foot and Mouth Disease, diseased
animals or animals exposed to the disease, be slaughtered to proceed with the
eradication of the disease successfully.
Animal victims that were to be slaughtered due to Foot and Mouth Disease
were to be aligned with a trench that was dug prior to the slaughter, and then
shot and buried in the trench (Cattle Embargo Forced by Guns,
1914) (U.S. Department of Agriculture
Discusses Prevetion and Cure for Terrible Foot and Mouth Disease, 1914) . The carcasses of the slaughtered diseased and
exposed animals were to be covered in a disinfectant cream that would prevent
the disease from continuing. Although slaughtering was the suggested measure of
eradication, all three types of measures were still in action throughout the
epidemic of the Foot and Mouth Disease.
The
Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic was a national disaster in the United States,
destroying several farms in 22 states. If the animals on a farm were not
infected with the Foot and Mouth Disease of, precautions still needed to be
made to prevent healthy animals, such as dogs and cats, from being exposed to
disease in anyway. The disease was so easily spread throughout the United
States, resulting in the eradication measure of slaughtering the animals
exposed or infected by the Foot and Mouth Disease the most practical and
successful choice. The disease was so easily spread throughout the United
States because of import and export goods, manure, and hay exchanging. The
disease was being neighbored from farm to farm, from state to state. The Foot
and Mouth Disease took over 3 months to treat a diseased animal, and sometimes
signs of the Foot and Mouth Disease did not appear externally because the
disease first destroyed the animals’ internal organs. The time and effort
required to quarantine and immunize animals that were impacted by the Foot and
Mouth Disease was too demanding and too expensive. The federal government, in
order to prevent infected meat from being sold for food purposes, all meat must
first be inspected and stamped by the federal government before being shipped.
In terms of other prevention of the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic,
quarantining and slaughtering of diseased and exposed animals was the most
reliable measure of eradication.
1. “Cattle Disease Spreading in Indiana,” Wall Street Journal, 5 February 2014, http://search.proquest.com/docview/90635897/pageview?accountid=11620.
2. “Cattle Embargo
Forced By Guns,” Chicago Daily Tribune, 5
February 2014
3. “Huntington County Example of Farmers'
Organization: County Agent Loew is a Leader,” Indiana Farmer’s Guide, 5 February 2014, http://search.proquest.com/docview/90649775/pageviewPDF?accountid=11620.
4. John R. Mohler, “Foot-and-mouth disease with special
reference to the outbreak of 1914,” 1924, 2 March 2014. https://archive.org/details/footandmouthdise325mohl
5. “The Cattle Plague,” The Independent, 5 February 2014, http://search.proquest.com/docview/90635897/pageview?accountid=11620.
6. “U.S.
Department of Agriculture Discusses Prevention and Cure for Terrible Foot and
Mouth Disease,” The Fort Wayne Gazette,
2 March 2014, http://access.newspaperarchive.com/fort-wayne-journal-gazette/1914-11-09/page-11?tag=foot+and+mouth+disease+1914&rtserp=tags/foot-and-mouth-disease-1914?psi=38&pci=7&ndt=by&py=1913&pey=1914&psb=relavance
7. “U.S.
Finds More Money Available to Fight Foot and Mouth Disease,” The Indianapolis Sunday Star, 2 March
2014, http://access.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer/fullpagepdfviewer?img=8895099.
