St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1896-02-28
TUBERCULOSIS IN VERMONT cows

+. A. Rich, the veterinarians OF INC sI"'e
agricultural station, has issued the iol'
lowing letter concerning his tuberculosis
test:
EDITOR CALIFORNIAN MANY of your
readers will doubtless remember that
eaily in 1891 the Experiment Station
herd was slaughtered because OF tuber-
culosis. and that after thorough d~lslnfec-
ton of the barn a new herd was pur-
chased. subject to the tubercuIln test.
The COWS we're bought in three lots, IN
Anil and October oil 1894 and January,
1895. and have been tested twice a year
since purchase, with negative results, no
tuberculosis having been found in the new
herd. .,,
OF the last purchase in Brookfeld,
about a year ago, consisting OF eleven
animals, one reacting to the tubercu IN
test was rejected, the remaining ten cows
were driven to Northfeld, shipped TO
Burlington and pl ICED in the station herd.
Several took cold, and two were quite
sick as a result of the journey, change OF
stable, etc. A few weeks later, Lena,
coming from the same herd as the one we
rejected, was noticed to be coughing
more, breathing u%nnaturally and failing
in flesh. She was tested again, not re-
acting. She was treated with eXpecto-
rants and tones and slowly improved.
In Iune she was turned out to pasture
and continued | % improve until fed dried
up, then began to fail again. She was
brought into the barn in the early TALL,
where she gradually failed. Her unthriity
condition and cough were no ed by MANY
visitors at theIarm, and several remarked
that she had tuberculosis il ever a COW
had. But our confidence in the tubercu-
lin TEST led us to think otherwise, not
wirhs anding the fact that shecame from
q herd IN which the disease existed. Last
month she was tested twice, using double
doses of tuberculin, without giving the
slightest reaction. In view of The fact
that size was an Improbable animal, ex-
hibiting MANY symptoms OF tuberculosis,
having come from a tuberculous herd (al-
though according to the tuberculin test
not herself ,uber, ulous), it was deemed
advsab c at the meeting of the Board OF
Control last week to destroy her, to
make a care III post mortem examna' ION,
and to satisfy both the public and our
selves as to the exact cause OF her cough,
labored breathing and general unthrIitl-
ness. The autopsy revedltda part oione
lung consolidated (ibrous phthisis), with
a considerable catarrhal bronchitis, both
doubtless resulting from a slight pneu-
monia contracted when shipped to us a
year ago.
This it seemed to us wasa veryinstruc-
tive case, presenting two conditions,
both OF which are difficult to dltferentlate
from tuberculosis, both accompanied by
cough. altered breathing, and called by
the laity consumption. In fact, here we
find the explanation OF the statement so
frequently made nowadays that We have
ALWAYS had tuberculosis among thecows
of Vermont. The results OF inv,% sfigation
in tuberculosis in Vermont during the
past two wears Covering many thousand
tests, lead us to believe that bovine tu-
berculosis, in Vermont at least, has eX-
listed but a very few years. and that the
cases we hear about dying many wears
AGO from so-called old-iashiontd con-
sumption were generally cases oicatarrfl-
al bronchitis, 6brous phthisiS, or, more
rarely, other wasting diseases, but not
tuberculosis. During the past twoyearS
we have destroyed many cases like tbs
above. Two were not tested, the Other
were, but did not react, and were killed
at the request OF the owners.