Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-01-02
Tuberculosis in Cattle.

1880 >~N->t'
", of the department of agriculture,
has published a bulletin on THE I'M
suspected but dangerous tuberculous
cow" The article deals especially
with cows that have been proved to
be tuberculous to dangerous degree,
but whose physical appearance,
shown by the demonstration. is fully
equal to that of the average dairy COW
and gives no indication of disease.
This work clearly demonstrates the
danger to public health so long as
COWS which react to the tuberculln
test are allowed to furnish milk or but
ter for public consumption.
Conclusions drawn by DIR. Schroeder
are:
The dangerously tuberculous COW is
an animal that may long retain the APP
pearance and general semblance of
perfect health.
The methods we now have to detect
the presence of tubercle bacilli in the
secretions and discharges from tuber-
culous cows are too crude to give pos
tive results unless the bacilli are quite
numerous. While we can frequently
obtain direct evidence that tuber-
culous COW is dangerous. failure to
obtain such evidence does not prove
that tuberculous COW is safe.
Among tuberculous dairy cows that
retain the appearance of health and
are not known to be affected until they
are tested with tuberculin, 40 per cent
or more actively expel tubercle bacilli
from their bodies in a way dangerous
to the health of other animals and
persons.
Dairy cows that have been affected
with tuberculosis three years or more,
with possibly rare exceptions, are ac-
tive agents for the dissemination Of
tubercle bacilli.
The general evidence justifies the
conclusion that tuberculous COWS do
not expel tubercle bacilli until some
time after they contract the affection.
The practical Importance of this is
that 1t enables us to clean herds of
tuberculous cattle by the periodic APP
plication of the tuberculin test and the
segregation of all reacting animals.
The interval of time that elapses be-
tween infection with tuberculosis and
the dangerous expulsion of tubercle.
bacilli can not serve as a reason for
retaining tuberculous COW in a dairy
herd after the fact that she is tuber-
.culous has been determined. The du-
ration of the interval after injection be-
fore the expulsion of bacilli begins,
varies greatly with different animals,
and it is rarely possible to ascertain
how long a COW has been affected when
her tuberculous condition is first dis
covered.
@1,o no
investigations we know that the COM
monest way for tubercle bacilli to pass
from the bodies of tuberculous cows
is with their feces. This fact, together
with the common presence of tuber-
culosis among dairy cows and the fire.
quency with which COW feces are
found in the milk that reaches the con-
sumner, is clear evidence that a con-
siderable proportion Of our dairy prod
ucts are infected with tubercle bacilli.
The danger from the presence Of
tuberculosis among dairy cows is not
confined to the use of milk as a bever-
age. When tubercle bacilli are pres
ent in milk they enter the various
articles of diet prepared from it, and
are specially numerous in butter, in
which they may remain alive seven
weeks or longer without showing
diminution of virulence.
The distribution of tubercle bacilli
from tuberculous cattle in way to
endanger human health is not left to
chance It is commercial, systematic
distribution, from door to door, or
rather from table to table. AS long
as the use of tuberculous dairy cows
is permitted the manner in which dairy
products are distributed will insure
that practically every member of the
human family is exposed to tubercu-
losis. This may explain why three
European Investigators from their
post -mortem examinations of respec-
lively 1852, 500, and 100 bodies of
persons who died from various causes
found that, among this total of 2,052
bodies, no less than 81 per cent showed
LESSONS of tuberculosis.
While the danger to which public
health is exposed thru the use of
milk from tuberculosis cows is of
magnitude almost beyond conception,
it is unfortunately only one among
many dangers to which persons are
exposed thru the use of impure,
infected, and dirty milk.
If the inclination Of the general pub
lie does not drive 1t to correct the
evils to which it is exposed thru thee
use of impure, infected and dirty milk,