Foot-and-Mouth Disease Quarantine
Reports from the East indicate that in different parts of New York and Pennsylvania, foot and mouth disease prevails among the live stock. Secretary Wilson apprehends that a large number of dairy cattle will become infected, so that the milk supply of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington will be seriously injured, and he fears, too, that the infection will be carried by the railroad cars as far west as the Mississippi River. Already shipments of milk from the infected localities are forbidden by quarantine declared by the states and the Federal Government. Two hundred inspectors are in the field killing cattle which show the least symptoms of infection, and the territory to cover is becoming larger each day. It appears in eruptions or blisters in the mouth; around the coronets of the feet, between the toes, and on the udders. Horses, dogs, cats, and even poultry are carriers of the contagion. It is seldom fatal to humans, being chiefly contracted by children and adults who drink large quantities of unboiled milk. Twelve counties of Pennsylvania are now under quarantine.