Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1907-03-19
A POPULAR BELIEF UPSET
EXPERTS SAY DAIRY cows ARE
A MENACE To HUMAN LIFE.
Tuberculosis Infection by Ingestion of
Germs-Government's Investigators
Find That the Disease Develops in
the. Lungs After Remote inocula-
ton.

the. Lungs After Remote inocuia-
tion.
A report on the relation of tuber.
culous LESSONS to the mode of infec-
tior, submitted to the Secretary of
Agriculture by Dr. E. c. Schroeder
and w. E. Cotton of the Bureau of
Animal Industry, Washington, D. c.,
contains information resulting from
extensive experimentation which goes
a long way toward upsetting the pop
ular notion that pulmonary tubercu-
losis. or consumption, only follows the
direct inhalation of the tubercle bacil-
Ii from dried sputum directly into the
lungs.
tuberculosis was produced in the
lungs of calf and three hogs. in the
course of these experiments, by in
oculation near the end of the tail
This indicates, in the view of the ex.
perts, that the lungs may readily be-
come the seat of tuberculous disease,
no matter through what channels the
bacilli gain entrance to the body and
that the location of LESSONS in the
lungs can no longer be considered
as reliable evidence that the infection
entered by means OF the respiration.
Too much Importance has been at
tached to the agency of dried sputum
in the study of tuberculous infection,
the investigators say, and too little
to the more serious danger from fresh
or moist tuberculous material, which
enters human food in many ways,
one of the cemmonest of which is at
tributable to the tuberculous dairy
COW. Evidence has been presented to
support the contention that the lungs
of these cows are more directly eX-
posed to the infection through the
lymph channels and blood current
than in any other way.
In the experiments with cattle and
hogs simultaneous injections of viru-
lent tubercle bacilli were made as
near the ends of the tails of the ami.
mails as possible, because this point
was the furthest removed available
portion of the body from the lung,
and the location from which the in
lection of the latter seemed least
likely to occur.
Twenty-three days after a healthy
calf had been inoculated with the
virulent preparation the animal died.
Post-mortem examination showed that
the lungs were badly infected, while
the other organs apparently were ia
normal condition The lungs pre-
scented perfect picture of fatal
military tuberculosis. The hogs which
were inoculated were killed, and the
same conditions were found in the
lungs.
The experimenters believe that in
these cases the bacilli we're either
taken up directly by the capillaries
and thence carried to the lungs by
means of the venous circulation, or
else by the lymphatics into the veins
and thence to the lungs. The report
says:
The practical conclusion to be
drawn from the results obtained is
that ingestion is a greater danger
than the respiration of tubercle ba-
cilli, especially as the tubercle bacnli
may be ingested in the fresh state in
which they are expelled from tuber-
culous LESSONS and cannot be respired
until they have been subjected to
various alternating processes. The
substance in which tubercle bacilli
are enveloped or imbedded when they
leave the infected organs under ordi-
nary and usual conditions requires
considerable time before it can be suf-
ficiently dried and pulverized to float
in the air. Bacilli do not rise from
moist surfaces and float in the air.
The complete desiccation that must
occur in advance of pulverization is
either a comparatively slow process
or is fastened by agencies, like ne
heat from the direct rays of the sun,
that have a potent influence against
the vitality of pathogenic bacteria.
Sputur, for example, dries on the
surface in a way that coats it with a
protective membrane through which
evaporation progresses slowly; it is
very adhesive substance, and be-
comes more SO during the first stages
of drying, and it must be exposed
when thoroughly dried to actual at
triton before it can be detached from
the surface on which it has dried and
reach sufficient disintegration to be
blown about as dust.
The experimenters summarize their
conclusions as follows:
tuberculosis is a disease contract
ed through the ingestion of tubercle
bacilli.
The lung is the most frequent or
gan affected, Independently of the
point at which the infectious material
enters the body.
Tuberculous infection may pass
from one part of the body to another
remote to it without leaving chain
of LESSONS to mark its path.
Fresh tuberculous material has the
highest, and dried and pulyerized ma
terial a doubtful significance
Tubercul0uS material from cattle
has the highest virulence for all test
ed species of the mammalian kingdom,
to which man anatomically and ply
siologically belongs. and tuberculous
material from man has lower viru.
lence.
Man is constantly exposed to fresh
tuberculous material in a helpless
way through his use of dairy products
from tuberculous cows and cows as
ISOLATED with tuberculous cattle
at seems from this array of facts.
the report says. every one of which
is based on positive experimental evil
dence. that we should feel no doubt
regarding our plain duty, which is, no
matter what other measures we adopt
in our fight against tuberculosis. not