Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-06-25
TRICHINIASIS IN IOWA,
Features Of the Disease
Circumstantial AccObnt of the Ca
lamity I'm Marion county.
Correspondence Of the Chicago TimssI
MARION, LINN COUNTY. Iowa, ,
THURSDAY. June IA.


MARION, LINN COUNTY. Iowa,
-.....-.- THURSDAY, June IA.
A most intense excitement in this
community has been created-and / no.
tice from the papers considerable atten-
tiOn attracted throughout the country
by the occurrence of that mysterious and
dreadful disease known as triehiuiasis, or
pork disease; and, believing that true
and complete report of the facts would
not be undressing To your numerous
readers, am induced 30 furnish the fol-
lowing history of the cases .5.rst.r
A family of ten in this place, COM
posed of Mr.. Bemis, aged n; Mrs. Be
mis-, 81; Henry IBeniis, % (: Whittier
Bemis, 20; Mr.. Lansing, (son-in-law of
Mr.. Bemis,) his wife, two little sons and
two little daughters were all, except..Mr.
Lansing, peculiarly and seriously attacked
about the 10th Of April, with disease Of
an unusual and remarkable set of sy1np-
toms, such as vomiting, diarrhea, pains
in the bowels, profuse sweating, swelling
of the face, stiffening of the muscles of thu
jaw, with fever of typnoid character.
After a week or so great pains were felt
in the muscles of the arms, legs, &c, sim
liar to muscular rheumatism, accompanied
with considerable swelling of the limbs
and general dropsical effusion through
out the cellular tissue.
In the absence of positive knowledge
that the patients had eaten triehinous
meat and the fever assuming somewhat
typhoid character, the attending physi-
clan, DIR. E. NJ Smith, was induced in the
absence of better name, to diagnose the
disease typhoid fever, and treated the
case accordingly, combating the symp-
toms as they presented themselves. =. .
On April 20, Drs. H. Ristine and T. S.
Bardwell were called in consultation with
DR.. Smith, and after thorough investiga-
tion all three of the physicians came to-
the conclusion that the symptoms clearly
indicated trichiniasis. 1t had been ascer-
tained that all the family except Mr.. Lam
sing had been eating more or less Of raw
ham, the severity of the disease being in
proportion to the amount eaten by each
Mr.. Lansing, who ate none at all, was
not affected, he being the only one who
was not. The second day after the con-
sultatiOn, June, LIST, Mr.. Lansing's little
boy, aged thirteen, died. Next day Hem
ry Bemis died, and Mr.. Lansing's other
little boy died on the 9th-three in all up
to the present date. The old people, Mr..
and Mrs. Bemis, are hourly expected to
die. A Post-morteDs WAS held over the
body Of the first that died, and portion
Of the muscle from different parts of the
body were obtained and thoroughly ex-
amined with the microscope BY all the
doctors of Marion and several from Cedar
Rapids, who found the parasite in large
numbers, variously estimated by different
ones on different pieces of muscle, to con-
tain from 100000 TO 26l,OOO 10 the square
cubic inch. Portions we're also sent to
J. Adams Allen, NJ. D., l.. i. D.; J. w
Freer, N. D., Ephraim ingalls,, M. D.,
and DR.. Laskie Miller, of the Rush, Medi-
cal College, Chicago; 10 Prof. Austin
Flint, NJ. D., of New York to Prof Lud-
lam, Of the Hahnemann School, Chicago,
and TO Asa How, M. D., of Dubuque,
Iowa, for examination. As far as has
been heard from, these gentlemen have
all found the muscles swarming with tri-
china-the average of the whole being
200 900 to the cubic inch. The motions
Of the parasite were plainly discernible in
almost every specimen placed beneath the
microscope. A piece of the ham OF which
the family ate could not be obtained for
examination, but portion of the same
hog that the family partook of was pre-
viously given to healthy sow, which re-
suited in its death. The muscle of the
sow was examined, and found TO be full
of triehina.
Twill here state that the hogs, from one
of which the ham that the family ate was
obtained, were raised by member of the
family living in the country, and that
some of his hogs had "hOg cholera last
Fall. but recovering from the disease, as
was supposed, were fattened and butch
cred with the rest. Doubtless the meat
eaten by the family was from one of the
hogs that had had the cholera last Fall.
The inference is clear, then, that "hog
cholera" in the hog is the same disease
as trichiniasis in the man, and that, If
man eats the raw flesh of swine infected
with cholera, he will have trichinissis, and
if the hog should eat portion Of the mus
Gle of the man infected with trichine, the
hog would be taken with the "bog chOl-
era; y or in other words, it is the same
disease.
In view of the alarming and startling
character of this new disease, it is very
natural that people should feel little ap-
prehensive about the use of pork, and
| that the acknowledged existence of such q
fearful disease in pork will greatly affect
the pork market But with proper
| watchfnlness and care, no fears need be
entertained. If the acknowledged theory
of trichin@ is true, and if trichIn@ IN the
hog is the cause of the "hog cholera the
same disposition should be made of all
hos affected that is generally made OF
l dos affected with hydrophObia. Though
cooking is generally believed to destroy
the parasite, st any rate it is much safer
70 avoid uncooked pork in sny shape II
there are those who are not satisfied with
these precautions, they can make them
selves doubly sure by procuring theproper
kind of q microscope and and examining
for themselves each piece of pork they
propose TO eat.
Since writing the above, Dr. henry
Ristine, of this place, reports that he has
lust visited six similar cases in the Jordan
family, in this county, twelve miles north
Of this place. All of these patients have
eating raw ham. --.i
j. II. WILSON, NJ ID.
| E-.,-- CICwono u-.t.ofv -.