The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-30
CATS AND DOGS ARE
 CARRIERS 0F GERMS
Chicago Scientists Call Them
 Menace to Health
TO MAKE EXPERIMENTS
Physicians Agree They Carry Both Tuberculosis and Diphtheria and Are Therefore Dangerous
 PInymates for Children


 Daily News says:
 Chicago cats are trembling-so are Chi cago dogs, for today came an announce ment that delivers in bacteriology at the University of Chicago are planning to con duct experiments-post mortem ones, al that-to ascertain the degree in which the feline and canine animals carry and spread disease. The announcement came about as a result of a dispatch from Cleveland. o. A Cleveland physician pr W. L. Enser declared that the family cat is the medium through which tuber- culosis spreads and as such 1t Is man greatest enemy.
 kill the cat and tuberculosis,' was the gist of pr. Enser's deprecation Of fe- line members of the household
 Not the cat alone, but the dog as well, spread tuberculosis and diphtheria," de- clared Prof Paul c. Heinemann, assistant in bacteriology at the university. T think that these pets spread diphtheria germs even more than tuberculosis, though, strange to say. they are both immune from the diseases. It is especially dan Rerous for them to be around children for there is no doubt about the truth of tho assertion that they do transmit the disease germs.
 "Both the cat and the dog will take up sputum and thus contract the disease germs. These they carry-though, as l said. they are immune from the afflic- tions themselves-until they transmit them to other dogs or cats or to human beings. The cats, prone to prowl about in the alleys by night, often become germ laden Dogs, associating with persons In whose throats the germs are lodged, be- come infected and later transmit their infection. The presence of either cat or a dog in the home is a source of danger"
 Has the university ever conducted ex- perimeflts which have proved your state- ments?" Professor Heinemann was asked.
 NO. though we intend to in the flu ture. but other institutions and individ- ual scientists have, and the assertions have been proved beyond all doubt
 sWould you say that the cat and dog were dangerous more as a 'conveyor of tuberculosis or of diphtheria?'
 sI should say of diphtheria,' responded the bacteriologist
 Cats are, indeed, menace to house. hold and the public should be so in formed" declared a dean in the medical departnent of the university, who is also an assistant ila pathology. T should ln- sist that the cat were even more danger ous as a diphtheria medium than tuoer- culosis one. It is particularly dangerous to allow a child to play with cat as many children do, for there is TO telling where the animal may have been or what germs it may carry. It Is an established truth that many persons have been in feeted either with diphtheria or tubercu- losis by the presence of pet cat in the home It is an evil practice and should be deprecated and especially emphasized that the cat and the baby should not play together
 The dean was asked if he had ever per sonally conducted experiments with the cat or dog.
 .fNo.r he replied, ''but the truth has been established Though it has not been given much publicity, 1t Is a thing which neople should know and should be warned against"
 "Yes. I read Dr. Enser's declaration said pr. Charles P. Small, university nhysician. "and I heartily agree with Kim There is a whole lot of truth In what he says and people cannot be too careful in needing of his warning. Ii is something which should be looked into thoroughly and an effort made 10 prevent. I was very much interested in what the Cleveland physician mad to say"
 q read the dispatch, too,' said pr. A. P. Mathews, professor of physiolog- ical chemistry, and l, too, agree With pr. Enser Though the line of experi- ments which he has carried on are out of my line 1t sounds extremely plaus- ible that the cats, wandering as they do. should become infected with germs and transmit them"
 .eWe spend thousands of dollars erect ing hospitals for victims of tubercu- losis," said Dr. Enser in the telegram from Cleveland "and also in killing rats to prevent the spread of the dis ease, but in the common house cat we have an enemy more dangerous than any other known agent in transferring g the disease to human beings"
 In a hundred cats examined by Dr. Enser more than 30 per cent were found to be badly infected. His in vestigations had exclusively to do with tuberculosis.