WEBVTT

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[The United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Industry Presents]

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[Battling Brucellosis]

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[Produced by The Motion Picture Service, Office of Information]

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[Subject Matter: Elmer Lash, Script: R. N. Newton, Camera: George Ortlieb,

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[Sound: Reuben Ford]

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[Direction: Walter K. Scott]

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[Narrator:] This is the story of the Wilson family

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and their fight against a tiny microbe called Brucella abortus.

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Long an enemy of America's livestock farmers.

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Somehow, driving the cows up in the morning doesn't seem quite the chore it used to be

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when a boy has been promised his first calf, a calf all his own to raise

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and feed and groom for shows.

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Likely as not there'd be powerful shortage of blue ribbon over the country

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if all the big plans a boy makes for his first calf came out just the way he thought they would.

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But Wilson there and Lem have made lots of plans

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and they're waiting with fair patience for Flossy to cooperate.

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Of course, big plans don't belong to youngsters only.

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Grown-ups make plans too.

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Their planning is usually just a little better seasoned by age.

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They know that lots of things can happen to plans.

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Take Tom Wilson there.  He's planning a bigger and better dairy farm, finer herd,

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plenty of space to grow his own feed,
more buildings, good living, things he'll be proud to pass on to his son.

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[Music continues]

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But lots can happen to plans.

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There is an enemy: tiny Brucella abortus.

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Magnified thousands of times for you to see it here.

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Brucella abortus, a pretty sounding name for a murderer.

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Working secretly and steadily in the dark confines of the animals' body,

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this evil little microbe plies a trade that has cost cattle growers millions of dollars.

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It is the cause of brucellosis or Bang's disease.

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This tiny vicious germ gives no warning. It attacks silently, invisibly,

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kills and destroys.  Its favorite victim is an unborn calf.

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National and state governments are cooperating in the battle against brucellosis

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by providing information and by paying farmers for part of the loss

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when they send infected animals to slaughter.

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Scientists of the United States Department of Agriculture

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know the treachery of this enemy of cattle growers.

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The battle against it has gone on for years and, especially of late,

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has brought good results.

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In 1934, one cow out of every 10 in the United States was infected.

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Ten years later, the proportion had dropped to one cow in 20.

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In some states, the percentage is still alarmingly high.

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The enemy does not die easily.

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In most infections, the cows take this germ in through feed that's been contaminated.

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Here is its favorite breeding ground,
the reproductive organs,

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particularly of young heifers in first or second pregnancy.

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Literally millions of these microbes invade the region between the uterus and

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the sack that holds the unborn calf.

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Like thieves in the night they rob the unborn animal of its food and oxygen.

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Flourishing on their ill-gotten gain,

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they infect the entire region, prowling and plundering and finally, murdering.

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The disease can spread rapidly from one animal to another.

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It takes an enormous toll of calves,

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often leaves breeding animals sterile and it attacks human beings in a form of disease called

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undulant fever.

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[Music]

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[Sept. 21 to 27th State Fair]

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Brucellosis is no respecter of animals and no respecter of plans,

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not even the most exciting ones, like having a calf of your own to raise.

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[Music]

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[United Air Lines calendar, Monday, 4th day, 8th and 9th also]

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[Music selection changes]

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Brucellosis has struck, suddenly and without warning.

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This is the first sign: that aborted calf.

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After the act of abortion, the cow expels an uncountable number of germs

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and can infect any cow that licks her or eats feed that she has contaminated.

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[Music intensifies]

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[Music]

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[Field Veterinarian door sign]  [Dr. Elmer on phone] Dr. Elmer speaking. Yes, Mr. Wilson.

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[Dr. Elmer] Sounds like brucellosis.

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Get that heifer away from the rest of your herd and get rid of her calf.

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Bury it where none of your other animals can get to it.

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Use plenty of lime in the pit so that the dogs won't dig it up.

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And beﾅ That's right.

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And be sure to spread lime and disinfectant on the ground where you found the calf.

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That's right. And when you're through, disinfect all tools and your shoes.

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I'll be right out.

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[Phone clicks]

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[Music fades out]

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[Music changes]

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[Narrator] The dead calf is a dangerous source of infection.

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Bury it in quicklime and bury it immediately.

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[Music]

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Buckets, forks and shovels contaminated with Brucella organisms

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may be as dangerous in spreading infection as the dead calf.

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[Music]

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Next step: Tom Wilson finds out how far the disease has spread through his herd.

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How many animals are already infected?

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That means testing every cow, including the one which lost her calf.

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There's always a slim chance that some other reason caused the abortion,

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but it is very slim.

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Brucellosis causes 85 percent of all cattle abortions.

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Scientists have devised the agglutination test,

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and animals which show a positive reaction to it are shipped off for slaughter.

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There is no cure for brucellosis,

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although many a farmer has paid out good sums of money for worthless so-called remedies.

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A veterinarian draws a small sample of blood from the jugular vein of the cow.
It is the blood that will tell the tale.

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In the laboratory, the blood serum,

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that clear liquid at the top of the tube, is drawn off.

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The dark red mass at the bottom of the tube is the clotted blood corpuscles.

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If the cow is infected, this clear liquid will contain a substance called agglutinin.

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Four amounts of serum are placed in the four squares of the glass plate.

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Each of these rows represents a different cow.

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Now the antigen, a blue liquid containing thousands of the germs that cause the disease.

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One drop of antigen is added to the squares on the plate.

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Now watch what happens.

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The two rows to the left remain unchanged, but keep your eye on that third row.

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There, the enemy is unmasked.

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Watch him cluster in tight little knots.

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That blood serum is from a cow heavily infected with brucellosis.

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This test is run on every cow in the Wilson herd

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and here in the laboratory is the beginning of the counterattack against Brucella abortus,

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the battle of science against a killer.

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There are many things to worry about when this invisible enemy strikes out of nowhere.  [Brucellosis of Cattle]

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[Bang's Disease, Infectious Abortion]
Not half as big as the point of the finest needle ever made,

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yet it can wreck a family's plans.

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Bud is pretty much worried about that calf.

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Mrs. Wilson remembers a neighbor whose dairy herd was wiped out by the disease,

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the neighbor who had to sell out, leave his home and his farm.

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The buildings are now dilapidated and sagging.

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Can this happen to the Wilsons?

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Not if Tom Wilson can help it.

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He's determined to give this disease a good fight.

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It can be licked, can be wiped out.

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Yes, there is a lot of worrying going on at the Wilson place.

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Here is the man with the verdict.

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Luckily for Tom Wilson, only 3 cows are infected:

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the heifer that lost her calf and two others.

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Which two?

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Tom Wilson's first job is to get rid of those three animals,

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ship them off for slaughter.

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The state and federal governments will pay him an indemnity to cover part of the loss.

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This is the second diseased cow in the Wilson herd.

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Which one is third?

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[Music]

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Number three is this heifer right here.

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Step number 2:

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Tom Wilson has all his young calves between the ages of 4 and 8 months old vaccinated.

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Another part of the battle in the war scientists (are) waging against brucellosis.

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Vaccination helps the animal build up a resistance against the disease

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and it gives cattle owners some assurance of clean healthy productive herds.

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This vaccine called "strain 19"  is worth millions of dollars to cattlemen throughout the nation.

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Here in the laboratory of the Bureau of Animal Industry at Beltsville, Maryland,

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thousands of doses of strain 19 vaccine are prepared every year and shipped to all parts of the country.

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Like all vaccines, this one is made from the germ itself, Brucella abortus,

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which is grown in cultures like these.

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It is much too weak to hurt the vaccinated animal,

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but it is strong enough to build up the animal's resistance.

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There's a liberal margin of safety.

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When the last calf is vaccinated,

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and the last infected animal marked with a "B" on the left jaw is shipped away for slaughter,

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the Wilsons are ready for the third step:

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cleaning up the premises.

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[Music]

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It's a long hard job but it's the part that clinches the victory against brucellosis.

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Plenty of scrubbing, plenty of disinfectant.

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Carting off manure piles which probably contain billions of germs.

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Yes, it takes the whole kit and caboodle,

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every man on the Wilson place,

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to wipe out every possible spot where this deadly germ could live,

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including its favorite breeding ground:

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the animals themselves.

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Tom Wilson will have his herd retested again and again until it is accredited as free of brucellosis.

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[Music, upbeat]

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This deadly invader can be and is being stamped out,

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farm by farm, county by county, [Accredited Herd Certificate, May, 1947]

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state by state.

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[...]

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[Music changes, optimistic]

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[Lem:] You sure is a beautiful baby.

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[Lem rubs calf with white rabbits foot]

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[...]

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Healthy disease-free herds are worth the battle.

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[Music]

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[The End]  [United States Department of Agriculture]

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[...]