Animal
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
The branding practices of
the Old West still serve
many purposes today. But
they are more than just a
way to settle livestock
squabbles. The practices of
tagging, branding, tattooing
and branding are also in
strumental in the control and
eradication of costly animal
diseases.
For example, brucellosis,
a reproductive disease, costs
the cattle industry over $56
million each year in direct
production losses, as well as
disease control expenses on
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identification
the farm. Taxpayers con
tribute $9O million per year
in state and federal funds to
control and eradicate the
cattle disease. Without such
controls, however, USDA
officials estimate that within
10 years the losses to the
cattle industry through
brucellosis disease could
exceed $B5O million each
year.
Only through com
prehensive animal iden
tification can the source of a
threatening livestock
disease be quickly traced,
according to Fred Powers, a
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program specialist with the
U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s (USDA)
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS).
Proper identification -
coupled with disease sur
veillance programs - can
also help improve livestock
quality through monitoring
of the livestock population
and pinpointing diseased
herds which may than be
freed of infection.
On the other hand, lack of
versatile, . widesprc-l
identification slows disease
eradication efforts. Four
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eases disease control
steps are essential for the
surveillance of animal
health: application of
identification devices,
maintenance of herd-of
origin records, identification
recovery, and the
correlation of information to
trace disease outbreaks.
A prime example of
identification as a disease
control measure is the
Market Cattle Identification
program instituted by
Washington state in 1955 and
adopted-nationwide in 1960.
It involves putting official
backtags on cattle at
market. The tag, which often
doubles as a market’s sale
tag, denotes the state where
the animal orginated,
market in which it was sold
and the animal’s owner.
Market operators keep sale
and tag records.
The tags are used to
identify blood samples
collected at livestock
markets or at slaughter for
brucellosis tests. If test
results indicate disease,
veterinarians can trace the
animal’s movement back to
the owner and start ap
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propriate action to eliminate
infection in other - cattle.
“This is much easier and far
less expensive than ‘down
the-road’ testing of every
eligible cow,” Powers points
out.
In 1977,27.3 million head of
the nation’s cattle were
backtagged, compared with
1.4 million 14 years before.
This increase reflects the
livestock industry’s
realization that a uniform
identification system and
accurate records are
necessary for an effective
disease surveillance
program.
“More precision and
standardization in
backtagging would greatly
improve the program’s
effectiveness level,” said
Powers.
If all markets used the
official backtag for main
taining records of sales as'
well as 'identification, he
said, and if all states used
standard size tags with the
standard coding system and
adopted uniform policies for
collection of blood samples
at slaughter, the program
would avoid unnecessary
complications. But the
identification is only as good
as the care taken in applying
the tag. Powers said. A few
buyers have switched or
removed tags before or after
interstate trade, com
plicating the tracing of in
fected and exposed animals.
USDA levies fines up to $5OO
for the interstate movement
of cattle without backtags.
Powers believes these
practices occur because
some producers and
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livestock dealers do not
understand how iden
tification relates to animal
health. Better com
munication between state
federal health officials and
cattle owners can help solve
that, according to Powers.
“Disease eradication
programs rely on the co
operation of market
operators and livestock
producers,” he said.
Some other methods for
livestock identification in
clude orange-colored vac
cination eartags for calves,
bangletags, hot brands,
freeze brands, slap tattoes
for swine, and leg bands for
birds. Examples of disease
status identification include
the “B” and “S” brands on
the left jaw of cattle, the first
indicating the animal has
brucellosis and the second
that is has been exposed or is
a suspected carrier.
Powers described the ideal
identification tool as one that
would be premanent,
economical, easy to apply,
legible, specific to each
animal, minimally painful to
apply, tamperproof and
adaptable to coding and
computerization. Producers
and market operators may
soon start using a newly
developed electronic
identification system to
meet these needs.
Electronic identification
operates by means of a
device implanted beneath
the animal’s skin. It can be
activated to transmit the
animal’s identification
number and body tem
perature. USDA supported
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