The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1906-08-03
FLIES Is cARAlERs OF DISEASE.
~ J. Q. Csbb, n. D., SarteOA UnltSA
SOasSs Pubic Health Rnd Marine
RIosDstal Service, Los An
6OIeS, California.

nospstal Service, Les An
6sIss, CaliSoFniS.
lRead before the California Public
Health Association, ct Riverside, Cal,
April IA, 1861
Seemingly the most PuEzling problem
most subtle disease the easiest con-
tFollod, after once we lay bare It's csus-
ntiVe agOnt. We actually turn up our
noses 81 yellow fever now, for all the
interest r. gone. Publ the mosquito;
why, how sfnnplel And typhoid feVeT7
why, we know al about thati And
plague, and malaria, and denguel IN
SOets - flies, mosquitoes, heasI We
know 90 about that, you will say; but,
even though you know, and how many
physicians IN your acquaintance, make
yourselves active IN the suppression OF
diseases conveyed by insects2 As ] look
into your faces, l doubt II there Ii q
single man among you free from one
guilt, free from running an open incu-
batOF for the propagation Of disease
carrying flies. ! refer to your stables,
where the manure Ia thrown out In q
pile and left 70 answer natures means
Of Matching out the fly. And, being
guilty Of this public nuisance yourselves,
] am certain that not one Of you has
ever written q warning word or raised
protesting voice against this afrOnt
70 common decency.
/ shall not weary you with descTip-
ton Of the genealogy Of the fly or OF
his anatomy, or his nearly human In
stIncts Of liking company. You know
ell about hIm-hOw he follows you 10
the table occasionally, In spite Of the
most careful houSekeeper, tasting your
coffee, taking o bath IN the cream,
playing Bre'r Rabbit and Tar Baby In
the syrup. He's q very domestic, play
ful creature, the fly, but he's not clean;
10 = dirty, thie insect i!; Yes, he is
that and more, for II call him by the
Born on q dunghill, his nature reveTts
20 the filthy ~ soon as your back II
turned. Even though you allow him
the grace of your company, he imposes
upon your confidence; when you are not
looking he wallows In waste barrels,
paddles IN dirty water, wades knee deep
In the ofssl Of cattle, feeds upon all
kinds Of conceivable fiIth. And II he Is
sojouTning In the country and the sani-
tAry arrangements are imperfect, as
they too often are, he whets appetite
FOR the dinner which he will try to take
In company with you by formal visit
70 the prfVy. Oh, he IN q gOurmand,
this hend, the hyi He will tackle any
thing 70 eat or drink from typhoid soup
. Ia Chicago 10 sputum Jelly q Ia I. b.
This pestiferous insect has many
chances 70 communicate disease from
one person 70 another or to plant the
infectious sRprOphytes upon food In
cholera OpidemicB, II has been demon.
stEated that flies became the medium
Of infection by planting the vibrio upon
food, both by contact from their feet
and wings and from their deiecta,
which are loaded with bacteria. Wher-
ever large bodies Of men 20 into camp
typhoid fever 10 nearly certain to break
out, even though the water supply IL
carefully protected from contamination.
Such outbreaks are due to hy infection
Of the food supply. Sporadic cases Of
typhoid fever In country settlements
are more often the result Of fly infeC-
ton than Of water infection.
tuberculosis Il of the most puEEling
Of our contagious diseases, and the
matter Of lts spread from one person TO
another 4 one Of the hardest problems
before the sanitPrian today. You be-
lievO, and believe, that Il IL q respira-
tory disease, borne into our lungs by
means Of contaminated dust, but ] be-
Havo probably more than you do. l
bOllSve that the greater sources OF In
fectlon by the bacillus comes about by
means Of the fly planting sputum on
food from tts wings and feet and dejecta:
This h not something new; u 10 an old
theory. Splllman and Householder called
attention 70 the possibility Of infection
Ia kltbofcnlosis n this manner several
years ago. Hoffman fed hles with
sputum and recovered bacilh from their
fecal matter. Hayward has recently
reported q series OF experiments cover
ing the ground more fully than Hoff.
man.
Typhoid fever, cholera and tubercu-
loGis are the most prominent Of the In.
eectlons conveyed by the fly, but be-
u bVe that several diseases, and especially
rhgue and leproay, may be conveyed
o !, the same manner. Diphtheria In one
g these, bat there II not 20 much Of q
nance for the fly 10 pick up the infect
n mucus In this malAdy; but In plague
iIydemicS and II Ieper countries II
TENS but reasonable TO believe that, In
D a kovOFty and equalor where such
nlAses occur, the hy would pick up the
efection and plant lt on the food of
TX hors who live In this environment,
eourae, - speak % you, your minds
nerve naturally asked II these diseases
lelo lngosllOn diseases, and answer
thu that believe they are, Kitasato
q Demonstrated that plague develops
spm feeding experiments, and there