Title: Dept. of Agriculture. Division of Animal Industry, Bureau of Animal Health Records
Dept. of Agriculture. Division of Animal Industry, Bureau of Animal Health
California State Archives
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[Identification of item], Dept. of Agriculture. Division of Animal Industry, Bureau of Animal Health Records, F3911, California
The earliest state involvement in the systematic control of animal diseases dates to 1919 (Chapter 325) with the creation
of the Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Animal Industry, Livestock Disease Control Service. In 1934 this office was supplanted
by the Livestock Sanitary Service. The Bureau of Animal Health was created in 1962.
The Bureau is responsible for the detection, control, eradication, and prevention of harmful animal diseases. Detection activities
include surveillance, examination, testing, and autopsies performed both in the field and in laboratories. Control is accomplished
through vaccination, testing, and elimination of infected animals, cleaning and disinfection of trucks and premises, and restriction
of animal movement by hold orders, quarantines, or controlled destination movement permits for animals with disease, exposed
to disease, or contaminated with harmful substances. Eradication efforts focus on state and USDA programs to break the cycle
of infection by test and removal of infected animals, sterilization methods, sanitation of hatching eggs, and herd treatment
for external parasites. Owners of removed animals are in some cases indemnified for a portion of the animal's value. Preventive
measures are directed against the entry of diseases which do not currently exist in California. This includes destroying ship
and aircraft garbage, inspecting imported animals, disease monitoring and edcational efforts, and quarantines when applicable.
The Bureau also works to prevent the fraudulent drugging of horses that would alter their disposition in a public sale or
The records described below constitute a rich source of information concerning the state's efforts to control various animal
diseases, in particular, brucellosis in cattle, Newcastle disease (chickens and turkeys), vesicular exanthema (hogs), foot
and mouth disease (cattle), scrapie (sheep), and tuberculosis.