UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA agricultural experiment Station ,_ . BENJ. IDE WHEELER, Prcsioent COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE thomas forsyth hunt. o E an and d. rector OCDUCI C"V H * E- VAN NORMAN - Vice - Director and Dean Ofc-rfl\tL.fc.Y University Farm School CIRCULAR NO. 106 September, 1913 DIRECTIONS FOR USING ANTI-HOG- CHOLERA SERUM BY JAMES F. MITCHELL UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of California, Davis Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/directionsforusi106mitc DIRECTIONS FOR USING ANTI-HOG CHOLERA SERUM BY JAMES F. MITCHELL It has been demonstrated that the blood serum of hogs that have been repeatedly infected with the virus of hog cholera without fatal results will, when injected into uninfected hogs, protect them against the disease. This serum is generauy known as Anti-Hog -Choi era Serum. Its effectiveness depends largely upon the way it is adminis- tered to the hogs. The California Agricultural Experiment Station prepares this serum, but does not assume any responsibility for the results of its use. During the two years ending June 30, 1913, seven hundred and twenty-eight applications were received and filled by this Station. The serum has been used to immunize approximately 72,780 hogs. In communities where hog cholera is epidemic about fifty per cent of the hogs die, but, although nearly all this serum was furnished to such communities, 95.3 per cent of all the hogs on which this serum was used lived. A low estimate of the saving to hog owners through the use of serum distributed by this station during the past two years is $240,000. This serum is a preventive and not a cure for hog cholera and, therefore, should be used before the animals become sick. There is good reason to believe that, if in every case the serum could have been used early in the outbreak, before many hogs had died, in addition to the above sum, $350,000 would have been saved. METHODS OF USING ANTI-HOG-CHOLERA SERUM There are three methods of using Anti-Hog-Cholera Serum, the Serum Alone, the Serum and Virus or Serum Simultaneous, and the double Methods. Serum Alone Method. — The serum alone method consists in the injection of Anti-Hog-Cholera Serum deep into the muscles of the hog. Such treatment will give an immunity lasting only from three weeks to three months. If a hog is treated, in this way and then eats food contaminated with the excretions of hogs sick with cholera, it will remain immune for a much longer period. For this reason farmers sometimes do not clean up their pens after giving the serum alone treatment. Yet, while this process may have the desired effect, there are great disadvantages in following it. So long as the pens are not disinfected and the sick hogs are not destroyed there exists a source of contamination that may spread the disease throughout the entire district, causing great loss to farmers who have not treated their hogs. Besides this, the pens become more contaminated and harder to clean up. There is also the possibility that treated hogs may not have been sufficiently exposed to infection to lengthen the normally short period of immunitj^ and that they may become infected from these contaminated pens after the immunity has worn off. It is the best practice, at least in a neighborhood where little cholera exists, to give the treatment and then clean up. PLATE I Sows heavy with pig may be snubbed to a post and vaccinated without throwing When the serum is used alone, provided it is in good condition and the work is properly done, no bad results will follow, even though the dose be doubled, except perhaps to make the animals lame for a day or so. Serum and Virus or Serum Simultaneous Method. — In the serum and virus method a dose of serum one and one-half times that used for serum alone treatment is injected into one ham of a hog and a small amount of virus (virulent hog-cholera-producing blood) into the other ham. This method gives an immunity lasting from six months to a year or longer. In most cases it is best to follow this method, because it usually gives an immunity long enough to make a second treatment unnecessary. The cost is about one and one-half times that of the serum alone method. This method of treatment should be administered only by a qualified veterinarian or some one who has received special instruction in regard to its use, as it is attended by some risk. It should never be administered to only a portion of a herd unless that portion be separated from the rest for about two weeks, as there is danger to untreated hogs in case cholera develops in a few of the treated animals. One per cent of the loss is expected with this method. This is due to several causes, among which may be mentioned the rela- tively greater leakage of serum from the needle hole, as compared with virus, and the unusual susceptibility of some hogs to cholera. Double Method. — The double method of treatment is a combination of the serum alone and the serum and virus methods, a treatment with serum alone being followed in ten to fourteen days by the serum and virus treatment, the dosage of serum, however, in both treatments being the same. This method tends to eliminate the losses which follow the serum and virus treatment. WHEN THE DIFFERENT METHODS SHOULD BE USED Use Serum Alone. — 1. Where an immunity of three weeks is all that is required. This might be the case with fat hogs nearly ready for market, or show hogs going to a fair. 2. On all pigs less than five weeks old. Pigs of this age are often runted or die following simultaneous work. Use Serum and Virus (Simultaneous Method). — 1. Where a more lasting immunity is desired, provided the case does not come under recommendations for Serum Alone or Double Method. 2. In non-infected herds of mixed hogs, or in herds recently infected with acute cholera. 3. On breeding stock as pigs from immune sows possess a slight immunity lasting until they are four to six weeks old. The dosage for all simultaneous work is one and one-half times that required for serum alone treatment. The Serum and Virus Method should never be used on hogs with chronic cholera or those having fever, as an injection of virus often brings on an acute attack of the disease. Otherwise this method should be used wherever possible, as it gives an immunity long enough to allow the hogs to reach marketable age or to outlive an outbreak of cholera. The immunity lasts from three months in suckling pigs to two years in mature hogs. Use Double Method. — 1. In pure bred herds. 2. In herds where cholera is extensive, especially where it is of the chronic type. While this method is more costly than the others, yet it has the advantage of greater safety and a lasting immunity. In districts where the services of competent men for inoculating the hogs are not available, the Agricultural Experiment Station will, if possible, send a man to do the work without charge except for actual expenses incurred, provided the hog owner will bring together his neighbors and his local veterinarian to see the work demonstrated, and that there are at least 50 head to be immunized. In a few cases the Agricultural Experiment Station has repeatedly sent men to treat hogs for the same party. When such is the case, the party whose hogs are treated must pay, in addition to the actual expenses incurred, an amount equivalent to the salary of the man sent to do the work from the time he leaves the Agricultural Experiment Station until his return. PLATE II Another method of vaccinating sows heavy with pig, or heavy hogs. This method is not so satisfactory as that shown in Plate I. EQUIPMENT NECESSARY Syringe of 20 to 120 cc. capacity, graduated to give a 5 cc. dose. Four needles of large caliber, two of them 2y 2 inches long for injecting large hogs and two of them iy 2 inches long for small hogs. A small syringe of 5 to 10 cc. capacity, graduated in half cc, for injecting virus. Needles should be iy 2 inches long so as to reach the muscle. Clinical thermometers, one for every ten hogs to be treated. A pint Mason jar or tumbler with metal cover for holding serum. A tumbler with metal cover for holding virus. Two pans and one pail of warm disinfectant, the pail to have a cloth in it for washing hogs; one pan to be used for holding filled syringes and the other to be used for washing syringes before refilling. PLATE III Equipment Necessary for Vaccinating Hogs, to Prevent Hog Cholera 1. Clinical thermometers for taking temperatures. 2. Original container of serum. 3. Mason jar for holding serum from which to fill syringes. 4. Original container of virus. 5. Metal covered glass for holding virus from which to fill virus syringe. 6. Large bucket of warm disinfectant with which to wash skin around point of injection. 7. Pan of warm disinfectant for washing syringes before refilling them. 8. Pan of warm disinfectant for holding filled syringes. 9. Large syringe suitable for injecting serum. 10. Small syringe at base of large bucket suitable for injecting virus. Articles Nos. 3 and 5 should be boiled for ten minutes before using. Articles Nos. 9 and 10 should be filled with pure lysol or other disinfectant and then rinsed with warm boiled water before filling with serum or virus. ADMINISTERING SERUM 1. Act promptly on the appearance of cholera in a neighborhood. Delay means a threefold loss: (a) the hogs that die, (b) those that sicken, and (c) the increased amount of serum necessary, as a larger dose of serum on the average is required in treating hogs in badly infected herds. 2. Feed hogs lightly during the twenty-four hours preceding and thirty-six hours following treatment. 3. Take temperatures. No hog having a temperature above 104 or 105 should be injected. Bear in mind that in infected herds some sick hogs will not be picked out as the disease in them has not progressed to the fever stage. Some hogs with chronic cholera do not have a fever at all times. Avoid exciting and crowding hogs before treating, as this tends to increase the temperature. 4. Open only one bottle of serum at a time, first washing the mouth of bottle with strong disinfectant. Keep vessels containing serum covered with metal cover that will not blow off. .5. All glass-ware must be boiled in order to destroy any germs that may be on it. Syringes should be kept in strong disinfectant when not in actual use. 6. Use separate vessels for virus and serum. 7. Use separate syringes for virus and serum. 8. Use a needle long enough to get deep into the muscles. This is especially important with fat hogs as absorption is not good from fatty tissue. 9. In injecting small pigs use a needle of smaller caliber and shorter shank than for large hogs. 10. Dip the needles in strong disinfectant between injections. 11. Thoroughly scour and disinfect the skin around the point of injection, using three per cent lysol or creolin, following with 70 per cent alcohol where especially valuable hogs are being treated. If pos- sible let some one other than the operator wash the hogs for injection. 12. Very heavy hogs and sows heavy with pig may be snubbed up by the nose to a post and injectud standing, either behind the ear or in the rear of the anknal. (Plates I and II). Special care should be used in injecting behind the ear of an animal because the skin there is very oily and hard to clean, and the bones in the neck are close to the surface and, if injured, serious results may follow. A quarter more should be given at this point than in the ham. When vaccinating around the ear do not inject more than 20 cc. in one needle hole, because the muscles are hard and do not retain the serum well. PLATE IV Proper way to hold and vaccinate a shoat. 13. Inject hogs weighing below a hundred pounds in the muscles of the ham (Plate IV), also other hogs not for immediate sale to butcher. (Plates IV and V). 14. Inject hogs intended for butchering in six weeks or less in the foreflank, for should abcesses develop they are of less importance at that point than in the ham. (Plate VI). 10 PLATE V Method of vaccinating a heavy hog, not so satisfactory as that shown in Plate VI. 15. When injecting thrust the needle through the skin. Then slip about a half inch to one side and push the needle deep into the muscle so that, when the needle is withdrawn, the hole into the muscle and the hole through the skin will not lie above one another. This will help to keep serum from leaking out. 16. After injecting a hog, before turning the animal loose, be sure that the serum is not leaking from the needle hole. It is a good prac- tice, after the operation is completed, to wipe the point of injection with a cloth wet with disinfectant. 17. Treated hogs should be kept in a clean dry yard for three days following the injection, so that the needle hole may have time to heal without becoming infected, which would cause abscesses or blood poisoning. 18. Dirty, muddy, wet hogs, just out of an irrigated field or wet pen, are hard to handle, cause an operator to break a great many needles and thermometers, and, because of the difficulty in controlling their struggles, the needle holes are apt to be enlarged so that infection, resulting in abscesses and blood poisoning, is more frequent. In work- ing with clean pigs the percent of abcesses is about one, while in dirty, muddy hogs it is about seventy-five. 11 PLATE VI Proper way of holding and vaccinating a large hog, especially those intended for market in six weeks or less. 19. If virus blood is spilled during the operation, pour disinfectant over it immediately. If any virus remains after treatment, destroy it by adding to it several times its volume of strong disinfectant. 20. Quarantine all hogs that receive the serum and virus treat- ment on ground that does not permit infection of other pens. Don't inject sick hogs. Don't underestimate the weight of the hog to save serum. Thin hogs should be estimated at the weight they would be if fat. Don't use serum for virus, or virus for serum. Don't use the same syringe for serum and virus. Don't let water from your hands drip into the serum when filling the syringe. Don't let dust get into the serum. Don't pour serum left in the syringe back into the bottle. Don't stick the bone in injecting. Don't catch pigs when injecting serum. Have helpers do that. Don't hurry. Don't treat hogs at all unless the disease is among them or in the vicinity making their infection probable. Don't let a person who has never done the work before use the serum and virus on your hogs. 12 DOSAGE TABLES ' Double method First Seco treatment treatr Serum Serum Suckling pigs, 2- Serum alone Serum -5 Serum & virus Serum Virus nent Virus weeks old ... 10-15 cc. 25 cc. V-2 CC. 10-15 cc. 1 5 cc. V, CC. 30 to 50 pounds.. ... 20-25 cc. 35 cc. Vi cc. 20-25 cc. 25 cc. V2 cc. 50 to 100 pounds.. .. 25-30 cc. 45 cc. y 2 cc. 25-30 cc. 30 cc. V-2 CC. 100 to 150 pounds.. .. 30-40 cc. 60 cc. 1 cc. 30-40 cc. 40 cc. 1 CC. 150 to 200 pounds.. .. 40-50 cc. 75 cc. 1 cc. 40-50 cc. 50 cc. 1 cc. 200 to 250 pounds.. .. 50-60 cc. 90 cc. i y 2 cc. 50-60 cc. 60 cc. 1 V. cc. 250 to 300 pounds.. .. 60-65 cc. 100 cc. 2 cc. 60-65 cc. 65 cc. 2 cc. 300 pounds and up .. 65-70 cc. 115 cc. 2 cc. 65-75 cc. 75 ec. 2 cc. The following table shows the comparative cost and length of immunity of the Serum Alone and the Serum and Virus methods. The Serum and Virus method costs nearly twice as much as the Serum Alone, but immunity is of much longer duration. Suckling pigs, 2 to 5 weeks old 3 to 30 to 50 pounds 3 to 50 to 100 pounds 3 weeks 100 to 150 pounds 3 weeks 150 to 200 pounds 3 weeks 200 to 250 pounds 3 weeks 250 to 300 pounds 3 weeks 300 pounds and up.... 3 weeks Serum alone Length of immunity Cost Serum & virus Length of immunity Cost 6 weeks $0.30 9 weeks .50 to 6 months .60 to 6 months .80 to 6 months 1.00 to 6 months 1.20 to 6 months 1.30 to 6 months 1.50 3 to 6 months 6 to 12 months 10 to 18 months 1 to 2 years 1 to 2 years 1 to 2 years 1 to 2 years 1 to 2 years $0.51 .71 .91 1.22 1.52 1.83 2.04 2.34 In badly infected herds the Serum Alone treatment should be followed, the dosage of serum being the same as that used in the Serum and Virus method. Pigs from highly immune sows are immune until five weeks old and the dosage of serum for such pigs can be decreased to half that of the Serum and Virus method, the regular dose of virus being given. Such pigs when left in continuously infected pens do not need a second injection at six months. This is especially applicable to pigs from sows fed on slaughter house refuse and garbage. HOW TO SECURE SERUM The State law requires the Agricultural Experiment Station to sell serum directly to resident hoor owners. Veterinarians who are using serum for their clients should have them make application for the serum in their own names. Until July 1, 1913, 500 cc. of serum, 13 enough for twenty 30 to 50-pound shoats, was given free to all hog owners whose animals were already infected or were in immediate danger of contracting the disease, providing the proper application blank was filled out and signed. Since the state appropriation cover- ing the allowance of free serum was exhausted by the above date and no appropriation was made by the State Legislature for the manufac- ture of hog serum for the future, no more free serum will be distri- buted. Applications covering all serum sent out must be on file in the office of the Veterinary Division, University of California. As it is essential that the laboratory know the results of the serum work in the field in order to protect the users of serum and the experiment station, all applications and reports of each inoculation on the regu- lar blanks furnished by the department must be sent in to the Veter- inary division, University of California, Berkeley, or there will be made at the end of five weeks an additional charge of lc per hog for the application and for each of the four reports not sent in, or a total of 5c per hog. If the number of hogs treated is not given the charge will be reckoned at the rate of lc per 30 cubic centimeters of serum shipped. If application is made by letter or telegram the regular form will be placed in the box of serum and should be at once filled out, signed and mailed. Application blanks may be obtained by addressing the Agricultural Experiment Station, Veterinary Division, Berkeley, California; the State Veterinarian, Sacramento, California; and the live stock inspectors of the various counties. The Experiment Station has tried to distribute blanks to as many hog raisers, dairymen and veterinarians as possible. In cases where a night telegram is necessary in sending for serum, the following form should be used: Veterinary Division. University of California, Berkeley, Calif. Send hog serum to for hogs (Name of express office) (Number of hogs) Total weight Before using serum I (Total weight in pounds) agree to fill out, sign and mail application blanks and reports fur- nished with serum. I am a resident of California. (Signed) (Owner of hogs) 14 About a year ago, owing to the demand in the Imperial Valley for serum, a distributing station was located at Meloland and since that date all orders for the Imperial Valley are filled at that station. Con- siderable time is saved by sending these orders directly to Walter E. Packard at Meloland. All unused serum on such orders for which credit is desired, however, must be returned by express, charges pre- paid, to the Veterinary Division, University of California, Berkeley, California, within the time limit stamped on the bottle. When application is made by letter or telegram to the station for serum and the order is shipped and the package returned, none of the serum having been used, a charge of $1.00 will be made to cover the expense of packing and handling the order. STATION PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR DISTRIBUTION REPORTS 1896. Report of the Viticultural Work during the seasons 1887-93, with data regarding the Vintages of 1894-95. 1897. Resistant Vines, their Selection, Adaptation, and Grafting. Appendix to Viticultural Report for 1896. 1902. Report of the Agricultural Experiment Station for 1898-1901. 1903. Report of the Agricultural Experiment Station for 1901-03. 1904. Twenty-second Report of the Agricultural Experiment Station for 1903-04. BULLETINS No. Reprint. Endurance of Drought in Soils of the Arid Region. 128. Nature, Value, and Utilization of Alkali Lands, and Tolerance of Alkali. (Revised and Reprint, 1905.) 133. Tolerance of Alkali by Various Cul- tures. *147. Culture Work of the Sub-stations. *162. Commercial Fertilizers. (Dec. 1, 1904.) 164. Poultry Feeding and Proprietary Foods. *165. Asparagus and Asparagus Rust in California. *167. Manufacture of Dry Wines in Hot Countries. 168. Observations on Some Vine Diseases in Sonoma County. 169. Tolerance of the Sugar Beet for Alkali. 170. Studies in Grasshopper Control. 171. Commercial Fertilizers. (June 30, 1905.) 174. A New Wine-Cooling Machine. *176. Sugar Beets in the San Joaquin Valley. 177. A New Method of Making Dry Red Wine. 178. Mosquito Control. 179. Commercial Fertilizers. (June, 1906.) 181. The Selection of Seed Wheat. 182. Analysis of Paris Green and Lead Arsenic. Proposed Insecticide Law. 183. The California Tussock-moth. 184. Report of the Plant Pathologist to July 1, 1906. 185. Report of Progress in Cereal Investi- gations. 186. The Oidium of the Vine. 187. Commercial Fertilizers. (Jan., 1907.) *188. Lining of Ditches and Reservoirs to Prevent Seepage Losses. 189. Commercial Fertilizers. (June, 1907.) *191. California Peach Blight. 192. Insects Injurious to the Vine of Cali- fornia. 194. Commercial Fertilizers. (Dec, 1907.) 195. The California Grape Root-worm. 197. Grape Culture in California; Im- proved Methods of Wine-making; Yeast from California Grapes. 198. The Grape Leaf-Hopper. 199. Bovine Tuberculosis. 201. Commercial Fertilizers. (June, 1908.) 202. Commercial Fertilizers. (Dec, 1908.) No. 203. 204. 205. 206. 207. 208. 209. 210. 211. 212. 213. 214. 215. 216. 217. 218. 219. 220. fc 221. 222. 223. 224. 225. 226. 227. "228. ^229. 230. 231. 232. 233. 234. 235. 236. 237. '238. 239. Report of the Plant Pathologist to July 1, 1909. The Dairy Cow's Record and the Stable. Commercial Fertilizers. (Dec, 1909.) Commercial Fertilizers. (June, 1910.) The Control of the Argentine Ant. The Late Blight of Celery. The Cream Supply. Imperial Valley Settler's Crop Manual. How to Increase the Yield of Wheat in California. California White Wheats. The Principles of Wine-making. Citrus Fruits Insects. The House Fly in its Relation to Public Health. A Progress Report upon Soil and Climatic Factors Influencing the Composition of Wheat. Honey Plants of California. California Plant Diseases. Report of Live Stock Conditions in Imperial County, California. Fumigation Studies No. 5 ; Dosage Tables. Commercial Fertilizers. (Oct., 1911.) The Red or Orange Scale. The Black Scale. The Production of tne Lima Bean. Tolerance of Eucalyptus for Alkali. The Purple Scale." Grape Vinegar. Pear Thrips and Peach Tree Borer. Hog Cholera and Preventive Serum. Enological Investigations. Walnut Culture in California. Wal- nut Blight. Commercial Fertilizers. Three Years' Work ©f the Ferndale (Humboldt County) Cow Testing Association. Red Spiders and Mites of Citrus Trees. Further Proof of the Cause and In- fectiousness of Crown Gall. The Economic Value of the Western Meadowlark in California. Pork Production under California Conditions. The Selective Improvement of the Lima Bean. The Culture of Tomatoes in Califor- nia, with Special Reference to Their Diseases. Edition exhausted. CIRCULARS No. No. *1. Texas Fever. 81. *7. Remedies for Insects. 82. 9. Asparagus Rust. *11. Fumigation Practice. 83. 29. Preliminary Announcement Concern- 84. ing Instruction in Practical Agri- 85. culture upon the University Farm, Davis, Cal. 46. Suggestions for Garden Work in Cali- fornia Schools. 86. 52. Information for Students Concerning 87. the College of Agriculture. 88. 55. Farmers' Institutes and University Extension in Agriculture. *60. Butter Scoring Contest, 1910. 89. 61. University Farm School. 90. 62. The School Garden in the Course of 91. Study. 92. 63. How to Make an Observation Hive. 65. The California Insecticide Law. *93. 66. Insecticides and Insect Control. 94. *67. Development of Secondary School 95. Agriculture in California. 96. 68. The Prevention of Hog Cholera. 97. 69. The Extermination of Morning-Glory. 98. 70. Observation of the Status of Corn Growing in California. 99. 74. Rice. 100. 75. A New Leakage Gauge. 101. 76. Hot Room Callusing. 77. University Farm School. 102. 78. Announcement of Farmers' Short *103. Courses for 1912. 104. 79. List of Insecticide Dealers. 105. 80. Boys' and Girls' Clubs. Sweet Pea Growing Clubs. The Common Ground Squirrels of California. Potato Growing Clubs. Mushrooms and Toadstools. A Preliminary Report of a Nematode Observed on Citrus Roots and its Possible Relation with the Mottled Appearance of Citrus Trees. Olives in California. Alfalfa. Advantages to the Breeder in Test- ing his Pure-bred Cows for the Register of Merit. Hog Cholera and its Prevention. Tuberculosis in Cattle and Hogs. Disinfection on the Farm. Infectious Abortion and Sterility in Cows. Bean Growing Clubs. The Dairyman's Relation to Quality. Detecting Dairy Losses. Pork Production. Increasing Dairy Profits. Plowing and Cultivating Soils in California. Hatching and Rearing of Chicks. Pruning Frosted Citrus Trees. Codling Moth Control in the Sacra- mento Valley. The Woolly Aphis. Chemical Analvses of Waters. The Amended Insecticide Law. Analyses of Insecticides for Users. Edition exhausted.