The program in North Dakota continues to be handicapped by a serious shortage of veterinary personnel. The few practitioners located in the State do not participate to the extent necessary to advance the program at a satisfactory rate. A solution to this problem appears to be wider use of qualified technicians, as it seems impossible to obtain adequate veterinary participation.

Increased emphasis is being placed on the vaccination program. It is hoped that more extensive vaccination will materially aid in protecting the gains already made and provide increased numbers of resistant cattle in those areas not yet certified.

Although adequate legislation is available for conducting complete area work, a goal for State-wide certification has not been established.

As of December 31, 1957, 33 of the 53 counties were certified. It is expected that this number will be increased to 37 by December 31, 1958, with an additional 8 counties conducting complete area work.

North Dakota provides for the certification of brucellosis-free swine herds. However, only one such herd was certified as of December 13, 1957.

New State legislation governing the control and eradication of bovine brucellosis in Ohio became effective on June 24, 1957. Funds are adequate to carry out the program and, for the most part, legislative authority for conducting effective brucellosis eradication work is available. The goal for state-wide certification is still June 1960. It is believed, however, that this status may be achieved earlier. Five counties were certified during 1957. Twenty-seven additional counties are expected to be certified in 1958. Eighty-seven of the 88 counties in Ohio will be either certified or under a complete area program by the end of 1958.

The Extension Service, breed organizations, artificial breeding associations, and other interested groups have been active and effective in promoting the brucellosis program. State and Federal disease eradication offices are represented on the health committees of all livestock organizations in Ohio.

Provisions are available in Ohio for the establishment and maintenance of brucellosis-free swine herds. Currently there are 17 such herds in the State and this number is expected to increase to 25 during 1958. The State Fair as well as many local fairs now require that swine must have passed a blood test for brucellosis prior to exhibition. This action has been helpful in promoting swine brucellosis work.

The brucellosis eradication program in Oklahoma has shown some improvement over previous years. It is handicapped, however, by complacency and indifference on the part of individuals and organizations that should be vitally interested. Other retarding factors have been outbreaks of anthrax and vesicular stomatitis during the year.

Local brucellosis committees were largely responsible for the four counties adopting area work, and they are assisting in promoting adoption of area work in a number of other counties. Increased efforts directed toward an effective educational program are needed.

The goals for calendar year 1958 are: (a) four counties to be initially certified and (b) area work will be in progress in 14 other counties.

The Statewide certification goal is 1961, which represents a change from the 1962 date originally established.

There are no provisions for the establishment and maintenance of brucellosisfree swine herds in Oklahoma.

PROGRESS REPORT

on

COOPERATIVE STATE-FEDERAL BRUCELLOSIS ERADICATION PROGRAM

PRESENTED AT THE NATIONAL BRUCELLOSIS COMMITTEE

ANNUAL MEETING

OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FEBRUARY 19, 1958

INTRODUCTION

In order that the material available to the National Brucellosis Committee be as recent as possible, some of the data will be presented on a calendar year basis in the same manner as it was handled at the 1957 meeting. Graphic material, together with National and State charts have been prepared to depict the current position and changing trends.

Since our report to this Committee last year, the cooperative State-Federal brucellosis eradication campaign has continued to make good progress. The results of over three years' work on the accelerated program are most encouraging and demonstrate the benefits that can be derived from such an all-out effort. The strong support being given the program by the livestock industry and other interested groups underlines a widespread determination to finish once and for all the fight against brucellosis. By maintaining the momentum generated over the past few years, there is every reason to believe that the entire country can be declared Modified-Certified Brucellosis-Free within a relatively short period of time. The 1960 goal, which was considered highly visionary when first proposed, is becoming more realistic all the time.

By C. K. MINGLE, D.V.M., CHIEF
BRUCELLOSIS ERADICATION SECTION

Program Activities

During the past calendar year, a total of 1.23 million herds and 16.65 million cattle were blood tested throughout the country. This represents increases over the previous year of 9.2 percent in the number of herds tested and 6.0 percent in the number of cattle tested.

During the same period, there were 1.81 million ring tests reported. This is about the same number of such tests conducted last year. The wide acceptance being given the ring test continues to be fully justified by satisfactory results. The value of this procedure in making it possible to locate centers of infection before they contribute to serious spread of the disease is extremely high.

Official vaccinations increased to nearly 6 million last year, or approximately one million more than reported for calendar year 1956. The need for continued vaccination in most areas remains high and should be encouraged and supported as widely as possible. This is especially true in certified areas where the danger of reinfecting susceptible cattle populations is still a serious threat.

Infection Rates

Both herd and cattle infection rates have declined during the past 12 months from what they were on December 31, 1956. Based upon blood test results alone, herd infection dropped from 12.0 percent in 1956 to 9.8 percent in 1957 and cattle infection was reduced from 1.9 percent to 1.6 percent during the same period.

A similar trend was observed in the number of ring suspicious herds disclosed during the year. For 1957, 9.8 percent of the ring tested herds were classed as suspicious. This compares with 12.6 percent similarly identified in 1956. The fact that there has been a consistent reduction in the number of ring-suspicious herds over the past three years further indicates the value of brucellosis ring testing.

Certification of Areas

The certification of areas continues to be the basic structure of our program and every effort must be made to promote work along these lines as rapidly as possible. It is likewise important that approved standards for the establishment and maintenance of certified areas be rigidly followed in order that maximum confidence in this designation can be assured. In line with this policy, it was necessary to remove eight counties from the certified list last year because of failure to properly requalify within specified time limits.

During the twelve-month period ending December 31, 1957, 337 initial county certifications were recorded. This compares with 197 for the preceding year. New county certifications are being approved at the rate of nearly 30 per month. At the end of calendar year 1957, there were 914 certified counties and 690 other counties doing complete area work leading directly to certification. Thus out of 3150 counties in the United States, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands, 51 percent are either certified or nearing that goal.