El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-02-28

I ,o,r., in italy has diminished aston
! ic5iDe1v within recent years. In 1881
! tTe I771ober of deaths from the disease
/ =, +I7af country was 1O4,O67; it is now
! ~ few hundreds per annum. A.
tbe same time, in France, where If
vas formerly very prevalent, and
-v6era no such means of fighting II
! nave been adopted, II seems to have
practically disappeared
- more ViruIcnt in United States.
nCenerallv speaking, the disease in
+ba ola World assumes much milder
form than was formerly the case In
- ~ I7nited states its virulence is
o+-oat1[ Intensified, with a proportion
steiV augmented death rate. In Eu-
rome it is mainly rural maladv, oc-
curing almost never IN cities, and
only the very poorest OF Sne peasants
those who are Wretchedly clothed
badiv housed and miserably fed, aud
Tho live in the greatest poverty
ara attacked So much is this the
cgsa that even the very poor are
oV,Cio7Is to hide the affliction being
Ssb9Toed of it. But these statements
90 not apply in our country.
zone noteworthy characteristic of
the roa1adv is that it occurs on very
much localized way. e., IN patches
tcDograDhicaly speaking. In other
lords If is what we should call a
snIace Infection Why should this
be the case? We cannot imagine.
Doubtless it is a matter having di->
TngTIV to 90 Win OlAACL p4ANAAOLll6La
relating in 'pellagra which we are
equally at loss to explain.
Not Contagious or Infectious.
'fTbe disease does not seem to be
contagious or 1ntecuQus- Otten 1t
b9Dnens that one member Of a family
sT7ffers from it. while all the others
are and continue to be healthy.
Hence there is no apparent reason for
Ouarantining or 1SOlaung the suffer-
ers Another point noticed, but as yet
11nexDIained. is that in this country
at All events, the malady is far more
prevalent among females than among
males Furthermore, white people
seem TO be much more liable to 1t
: 81 sboiied corn theory cannot be
said TO be proved. Another idea,
wholly different, has for its most dis
tinguished advocate DR.. L. W. SambOn
q. member Of the field committee re-
Gently engaged in making study Of
'pellagra' in Italy He is the man
who helped so Importantly, by his
classic experiments in the Roman
Dbeles MOSQUITO was the sole carrier
of the malaria germ
probably Transmitted by Insect.
OR. Sambon believes that 'pella-
gra' is carried by a midge-an insect
nearly related to our buffalo gnat
II is conceivable, of course, that
italian or other European immigrants
bringing 'pellagra' to this country
NAV nave lnIGELGu OuI JULIAN 10 -
thus causing the latter to spread the
disease among persons bitten by
them. These gnats are found only in
warm ATTITUDES. but nearly every
where in the United States there are
other biting midges or related species
such, for example, as the black
flv' of the ndacks-which might
become infected in the same way. The
theory, however, remains improved
THE disease, for all we can now
tell to the contrary, may have moth
ing to do with cOrn-unlesss as is con-
ceivabIe, the eating of spoiled maize
be a predispOsing cause There may
be no insect carrier concerned. It
is at least possible that a water
borne rganism-perhaps an amoeba
is the maker of the mischief. So
far it is all guessWOrk. We hope to
get at the fact and prove it.
Georgia Had First Case.
''The first properly authenticated
case Of 'Dellagra' in this country was
reported from the state of Georgia in
1902. Five years later a number of
cases were reported from Alabama
and South Carolina. Since then the
disease, becoming epidemic, has
spread rapidly throughout the south
and over MIST Of the rest of the coun-
try. At the present time it gives such
cause for alarm that, in the opinion
OF the Public Health service, no time
is to be lost in taking measures to
check it."