Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1884-02-09
TRECHINOsIs.

The London Lancet, which is consid.
cred among the best authorities in the
world on the subject of diseases, and
which is altogether a reliable journal,
gives the following startling account of
the fatality resulting from eating the
flesh of a single pig diseased with trich-
in@. As trichinosis is a disease much
talked about at present, but seldom in
diligently discussed, the Lancet's article
will be read with all the more appre.
citation 4:
The epidemic of trichinosis referred to
in our last issue, and which occurred at
and in the ~neighborhood of Emersleben,
near Halberstadt, is one Of the most
severe ever recorded. On Sept. ii last a
pig was killed by a butcher named Beh-
rens at Emersleben, and, according to
law, its flesh should have been examined
by the district inspector before being
used as food. On Sept. IL the butcher
gave a slice of the meat to two neigh
bors, who, according to local custom,
chopped it up into a tine mass, spread it
on bread, and ate it raw. They both fell
i'll, and subsequently died. On the same
day the butcher himself mixed the re-
mainder of the meat with that of another
animal, and sold the minced compound
to his Emersleben customers every day
from Sept. Is to the 10Th, and all but
five of them consumed it in the manner
already indicated. As the result, $50
persons were taken i'll, and over 40 died.
The same mixture was also sold to AZ
customers at Deesdorf, AZ being seized
with illness and nine dying. In one
family alone, amongst the total attacked,
there were four deaths. Other isolated
sales of meat took place, and later on the
compound was again mixed with addi-
tional fresh pork and sold to customers,
of whom so sickened, but without fatal
result. At first the cause of the epidemic
remained a mystery, and it was not until
at least l5O persons had sickened that its
true origin was discovered. The details
of the outbreak have been published in
Germany, in Paris and elsewhere. The
French account being prepared as the
result of local inquiry and with great
care by DIR. Brouardel. According to his
Investigations it would appear that the
trichina contained in the meat mixture
appeared most potent for harm when
consumed within about "a hours of the
death of the animal, SO per cent of those
who partook of it within that period
dying in consequence, also that the &C.
tivity of the meat for mischief gradually
decreased day by day after the first
period of "a hours, until, when the sixth
day was reached, sickness without a
single death alone supervened. Sex does
not appear to have influenced the result,
but, according to the belief of the medi-
cal men in the district, children resisted
the influence better than adults, whereas
old people suffered most. Whether at
Emersleben the meat was really exam
ined before it was consumed can hardly
be ascertained, but it is certain that
both the butcher and the inspector par
took of some Of it, for they both suffered
seriously in consequence. Trichin@ were,
however, discovered in the minced mate
rial at a later stage. There can be no
question that the habit of eating the flesh
of pigs in q raw state constitutes q great
danger to the population of Germany,
and few outbreaks could bring this point
home more decidedly than the one now
under discussion. It has already been
said that FIVE persons who consumed the
meat at Emersleben did not eat it raw.
These five persons, together with a SER
want, form the household of the Mayor,
and although the meat was used in his