Clarke Courier

It is true that Clarke County farmers are having some trouble with hog cholera. But it is NOT true that conditions are so terribly alarming as at least one news story printed them.

The Courier interviewed Dr. T. M. Owen of the U. S. Department of Animal Husbandry when he was here for a short time last week, and in this issue we print his statement, handed us in his own handwriting.

That farmers should take every possible care is a foregone conclusion. That they should have the confidence of outside buyers and consumers shaken by wild reports is deplorable and a serious matter.

Upon investigation The Courier found that some sections of the County are free of the disease, and that where it is prevalent it is well in check and of no serious proportions.

The reports that veterinarians and farmers were forced to work night and day to check the cholera 'rampant in Clarke County hogs', have no foundation in fact.

When a newspaper undertakes to report conditions in a neighboring County, that newspaper should consider how much damage might result from ill advised exaggerations.

Government employees as a rule make the statement strong enough in an effort to secure the farmer's attention.

Dr. Owen's Statement

According to a report just received by a representative of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, who is investigating the sickness among hogs, in the vicinity of Berryville, he reports that hog cholera is quite prevalent throughout Clarke County and serious losses have already been sustained; and owing to the fact that hogs having died from the highly infectious disease are being hauled to the fields to be devoured by dogs and buzzards, presents a very serious situation.

As the disease is likely to be widely spread rather than being checked by the immunization method, farmers are urged to be on the lookout for sick hogs on their premises, so that their animals may be inoculated with both hog cholera serum and virus in order that they may receive permanent immunity against this fatal disease.

Hogs at any age or size can be successfully rendered permanently immune to hog cholera if treated while healthy. The cost depends on the size of the animal.

While hog cholera may be found in many different forms and, therefore, may be misleading to the owner, it is fatal to at least 99 per cent of the entire herd. Fortunately only one or two hogs are affected in the early stages of the disease, and it is at this critical stage when your nearest veterinarian should be called promptly.

Needless to say, the best results will be obtained by having your hogs immunized against cholera before the disease appears in your herd.