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why a correct diagnosis of the foot and mouth disease has often
been delayed in newly born calves and pigs, consequently, the
farms cannot commence to take the necessary timely measures to
combat foot and mouth infection, thereby allowing the virus, time
to attack full grown animals,

The spread of foot and mouth disease through milk products,
is characterized by the fact that the infection has usually been
transmitted to farms where a particular milk dairy is operating.
In fresh out-breaks of foot and mouth disease, in farms, where
the infection has been transmitted through milk products, as a rule,
the infection first starts attacking calves and piglets. In the
transmission of foot and mouth infection through milk products,
even one farm which has been attacked by the foot and mouth disease,
is sufficient to spread the disease to others as yet unaffected,
because of a dairy which had not carried out the necessary purifi-
cation of the milk.

As far as the role of products of animal farms themselves, in
the spread of foot and mouth infections, we have not established
a single case where the virus was transmitted to such distant
regions.

Very often, foot and mouth virus is transmitted to farms,
which have not so far been affected by the disease, through water,
specially rivers. Thus, during a foot and mouth epizootic in many
farms of the Republic, fresh outbreaks in farms which have not so
far been affected by the virus were observed by veterinary special-
ists in regions which were connected by river waters. The data
collected by our Scientists indicated four cases, where the epi-
zootic foot and mouth flare-ups had occurred in farms which were
situated down stream at distances of 6 to 18 km, from the source
of the foot and mouth infection and where the cattle continued to be
watered untill such time as the foot and wouth disease became
evident in these animals.

Excrita and Urine play a very important role in the spread of
foot and mouth infection. According to our data, 4% of foot and
mouth infections has resulted from excreta and urine of diseased
cattle. It has been established that during the cold weather, the
foot and mouth virus remains virulent in the excreta for a period
of 150 to 168 days, hence the excreta and urine should be consi-
dered as very important agents in keeping the infection alive in
outer media. If it is taken into consideration that during the
winter months, it is practically impossible to render harmless the
excreta of cattle suffering from foot and mouth disease or to
completely disinfect the grazing lands of the animal farm in the
grip of foot and mouth disease, then the importance of the excreta
and urine in the propagation of the disease acquires even more
significance.

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