the Mexico-United States border to prevent reinfestation of the areas freed of the screwworm has been more difficult.

On the basis of information available at the beginning of the program in the Southwest it was believed that a barrier approximately 50 to 75 miles wide would be adequate. However, tests during the past year have shown that a screwworm fly can migrate at least 180 miles during its lifetime-more than twice as far as previously considered likely. This new knowledge demonstrated the need to adjust the protective barrier zone to a width of at least 200 miles by extending program operations deeper into Mexico. Consequently, during the past year it has been necessary to operate a barrier zone of varying intensity and width. The zone had to be modified according to seasons and climatic conditions. We will have to continue to modify the barrier zone as situations dictate.

While the operation of the barrier zone has not kept all infestations out of the area as noted above, it has been effective in preventing establishment of a self-perpetuating population in the area. Experience has shown that such a zone can be effectively maintained. We think, therefore, that the second objective has been attained.

An evaluation of what has been accomplished and what is in prospect for the future clearly showed that a barrier zone similar to the one now in operation will be required. Although the barrier may be improved by pushing some parts of it further into Mexico, the financial and other requirements of the operation, at least during the fiscal year 1965, will be as great as those committed for this year's operation.

MANPOWER CEILINGS

Mr. WHITTEN. May I ask a question at this point? This is an appropriate place, but the question applies to the Department generally. Does the manpower ceiling apply to manpower even though it may be paid for by contributions by States or other local sources?

Mr. GRANT. Yes, sir; the ceiling applies to all Federal employees in the Department of Agriculture regardless of the source of funds. It does not apply to non-Federal employment under the State extension services. It does not apply to ASC's county committee employees, but it does apply to employees of the milk marketing administrators, who are not paid from Federal funds.

Mr. WHITTEN. Is the ceiling a percentage of the total overall manpower or is it a number?

Mr. GRANT. It is a number-not a percentage. It is the number of employees in permanent positions and in other types of positions as of June 30, 1964, and June 30, 1965.

Mr. WHITTEN. Could we have for the record a copy of the order, the effects and so forth, if you haven't already put it in?

Mr. GRANT. That is being put in the record in connection with your request of last Monday.

Mr. WHITTEN. You might proceed, Doctor.

PREVENTING SCREW-WORM REINFESTATION FROM MEXICO

Dr. CLARKSON. I want to emphasize one point is in this statement. You may recall that we entered this program with the anticipation that, if successful, the eradication of screw-worms in the Southwest would require a continuing job of preventing reinfestation from Mexico, where the screw-worm exists, as far south as you can go. (The chart referred to follows:)

Dr. CLARKSON. The fly has been eliminated in the five-State eradication area. In the process, we found that this fly will move some 200 miles under its own power. Previously, all the information we had indicated a flight range of about 50 miles. The added range requires more extensive operations within the Republic of Mexico than was originally planned. The sterile fly barrier zone that now needs to be maintained in order to protect New Mexico and Texas and the States to the east and north, has to be a much larger and a more expensive operation than heretofore anticipated. Although we think that in another year or so we may be able to find ways of reducing some of the expense, the outlook now is that to maintain the screwworm-free situation during the Federal fiscal year 1965 will involve at least the same amount of total funds as we have used this fiscal year. Mr. WHITTEN. That was requested in the budget?

Dr. CLARKSON. There is $2,750,000 in the budget for 1965. Also, the appropriation language retains the proviso that Department funds for certain aspects of the program shall be matched by other funds. (Explanatory note material follows:)

EXAMPLES OF RECENT ACTIVITY UNDER ANIMAL DISEASE CONTROL AND ERADICATION
PROGRAMS

Screw-worm eradication in the Southwest

Screw-worm incidence reduced greatly.-Considerable progress has been made in eradicating screw-worm from the Southwestern States of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico since the program was initiated. During the calendar year 1962, even though screw-worm eradication activities had greatly reduced the normal population, livestock producers submitted over 50,000 specimens that were identified as screw-worm larva. In calendar year 1963, only 6,300 infestations have been found. Louisiana and Arkansas have been kept completely free of the pest.

Fly production methods improved greatly.-Intensive methods development work has resulted in significant economies in rearing the laboratory-produced fly through development of new and more economical media for rearing flies. The use of cheaper meat-such as nutria and beef lung-made it possible to increase production capacity far more than was planned when the program started. The increased production has helped to continue effective operations since large quantities of sterile flies have been needed for release over extensive areas.

Procedures for sterile fly release.-Because of conditions in the Southwest, it has been necessary to develop methods to feed the sterile flies prior to release. It has been discovered that the sterile flies, fed a small cup of corn syrup in the fly release package, are more active, vigorous, and more effective in their competition with the native screw-worm fly.

Experience gained during 1963 has demonstrated the need for strategically releasing the sterile flies over favorable habitats, such as streams, river valleys, and other places where the native fly and the livestock tend to congregate. This type of sterile fly release requires greater flying time than following the grid pattern of release as was done in the southeastern eradication program.

Important knowledge has been gained concerning migratory habits of the screw-worm fly in the southwest program. The fly has been found capable of covering much greater distances more quickly than was previously known. It has been found to travel as much as 200 miles. Further, the fly apparently has a tendency to migrate northward in the spring with a possible reverse southern migration in the fall.

OTHER EXAMPLES OF RECENT ACTIVITY

Cattle fever tick eradication

Active program continues in Texas.-Keeping cattle ticks out of the United States is a major part of current activities. All territory in Mexico along the lower Rio Grande River is tick infested, and reinfestations in Texas occur regularly from stray and smuggled animals. A buffer area, under Federal and State quarantine, extends from Del Rio to the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 500 miles. This zone is constantly patrolled by Department inspectors who, in cooperation with Texas livestock sanitary authorities, work diligently to reduce the introduction and prevent the dissemination of cattle ticks to other areas. The area under quarantine includes parts of eight counties. The effectiveness of this quarantine zone prevented the spread of cattle fever ticks to numerous States from which it has been eradicated.

Cattle moving legally from Mexico are carefully inspected for ticks at the border. They must be free of ticks and must be given a precautionary dipping before they can be imported.

The following table compares inspections and dippings in recent years:

Tick identification training courses held in Texas.-During fiscal year 1963, four 1-week tick identification training courses, attended by 33 State and Federal employees from Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas, were held at Laredo, Tex. The purpose of the training was to provide basic instruction on the identification of cattle fever ticks (Boophilus annulatus and B. microplus) as well as other ticks common to Southern United States and northern Mexico. Attention was also given to the techniques of tick eradication, including the inspection and dipping of animals and vat management procedures.

Diagnosis, control and eradication of miscellaneous diseases

Scrapie outbreaks disclosed and eradicated.-During fiscal year 1963, 11 scrapie-infected flocks were reported in 6 States as compared to 13 infected flocks in 5 States in 1962. To prevent the spread of the disease, infected and

exposed animals are slaughtered. By the end of the fiscal year, some 638 flocks of approximately 231,800 sheep were under surveillance for scrapie in 26 States. This is a decrease from fiscal year 1962 when 1,236 flocks were under surveillance.

There follows a listing of Federal and cooperators indemnities:

NOTE.-Federal amounts represent obligations; cooperators amounts reflect actual payments reported by the close of the Federal fiscal year.

Anaplasmosis.—As a result of extensive cooperative efforts begun in 1955, anaplasmosis has been eradicated in Hawaii. Only one reactor animal was located among native Hawaiian cattle during fiscal year 1963.

Limited surveillance activities will need to be continued in Hawaii to assure that anaplasmosis does not recur and that all imported animals are free of the disease. Surveys are being conducted in a number of the continental States to determine the extent and prevalence of anaplasmosis.

Poultry disase control.-Cooperative activities were conducted in fiscal year 1963 in the State of Minnesota under the Minnesota pilot infectious sinusitis program with 738,000 breeder-type turkeys tested for Mycoplasma callisepticum. This completed 2 years of field trials to determine the effect of such a program in controlling the disease.

The rate of sinusitis infection in turkey breeder flocks was reduced from an extremely high incidence to only 6 percent. The results of the project were so convincing that the Minnesota Livestock Sanitary Board adopted it as an official State regulatory program effective September 1, 1963, at the request of poultry producers in the State.

In Maine the cooperative State-Federal activities on rearing poultry under practices and procedures designed to keep the birds free from exposure to disease has made good progress this past year.

In fiscal year 1963, the Maine program consisted of 20 breeder flocks; that is, flocks used in supplying the chicks for the 65 specific pathogen-free broiler chicken or commercial "meat" flocks. One and one-half million broilers were grown and processed. The specific pathogen-free (SPF) broilers at slaughter weighed approximately 0.4 pound more at 9 weeks on one-half pound less feed consumed, than nonspecific pathogen-free broilers.

Laboratory tests of SPF flocks revealed no serological evidence of pullorum disease, no fowl typhoid, and no paratyphoid. Physical inspection showed no evidence of laryngotracheitis or fowl pox.

Equine piroplasmosis.-During fiscal year 1963, 138 equines on 98 premises in Florida and 16 equines on 1 premise in Georgia were found infected with equine piroplasmosis. The infected horses in Georgia were slaughtered and tickicides were applied to the stables. In Florida, such control efforts consists of spraying horses and stabling premises with tickicides every 21 days. During fiscal year 1963, a total of 16,195 equines and 7,311 cattle associated with equines required spraying.

Thus far, cooperative Federal-State efforts appear to have prevented further spread of the disease. However, there continues to be danger of spread of the disease since surviving horse stock remain carriers and thus are potential spreaders. In addition, ticks and possibly other vectors transmit the disease. Preventive measures developed by the Department and the State of Florida to prevent the spread of the disease to racehorses in Florida appear to have aided the control program. These include spraying of raceway premises, control over sales of hay, prohibition of dogs (known to harbor ticks that spread equine piroplasmosis) at tracks and procedures for stabling and inspection of horses. Vesicular disease investigations.-During fiscal year 1963, field veterinarians investigated a total of 236 premises with suspected vesicular disease cases. oratory confirmation of specimens collected from these cases showed 126 with vesicular stomatitis, and negative results for foot-and-mouth disease, a disease clinically identical to vesicular stomatitis.

Lab

An entomologist and epidemiologist were assigned to the vesicular stomatitis endemic area in the Southeast to conduct insect surveys and develop epidemiological data in an attempt to disclose the means of transmission of the disease.

Field investigation of each case is handled on an emergency basis with laboratory confirmation obtained within 36 hours from the time of initial investigation. These activities are essential as the early diagnosis of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States would be essential to successful, early eradication. The alternative would be an extensive control and eradication program.

Supervision over interstate movement of livestock

Animal health inspection at public stockyards and in marketing channels benefits livestock industry.—It provides reliable and current knowledge of the health status of our Nation's livestock through competent and continuous inspection of animals moving through interstate commerce. In addition, effective inspection of intransit livestock provides a built-in alarm system for quick warning of animal disease outbreaks when they occur.

In fiscal year 1963, over 56 million head of livestock were examined by qualified veterinarians and livestock inspectors. This includes over 20 million cattle, nearly 9 million sheep, and over 26 million swine. The inspection service includes supervision of dipping (for scabies), testing for animal disease, and vaccination of swine and cattle.

In addition, increased efforts were directed toward animal identification and livestock diseases "tracebacks" to farm or ranch of origin. This valuable information assists field personnel in screening animal diseases in marketing channels so that eradication efforts can be efficiently and effectively directed to herds with known disease problems.

The following data show the comparative volume of activity at the public stockyards in the fiscal years 1962 and 1963:

Screw-worm inspection activities continued along the Mississippi River to protect screw-worm-free Southeastern States.-Although progress in the Southwest screw-worm eradication program greatly reduced screw-worm infestations, inspection activities were continued in 1963 to protect the free Southeastern States by maintaining an inspection line at the Mississippi River. Almost one-half million animals moving eastbound were inspected at stations along that river. No screw-worm infestations were found in the Southeast States during 1963.

Interstate regulations enforcement.-The following programs are administered under interstate regulations enforcement:

(1) Enforcement of the 28-hour law. (Act of June 29, 1906).

(2) Enforcement of the regulations promulgated under authority of the animal quarantine laws. (Acts of May 29, 1884; February 2, 1903; and March 3, 1905).

Twenty-eight-hour law. The 28-hour law seeks to insure the interstate transportation of livestock in a humane and safe manner as well as to prevent or minimize losses to shippers by safeguarding the health and condition of the animals while en route to market, farm, or ranch destinations. In enforcing