Norwich bulletin., 1914-11-19
MEATS WELL COOKED
 AND MILK BOILED. Then Housewives Need Not Fear Foot and Mouth Disease.

Housewives need not fear the pur- ] chase of infected meats in the markets as the result of the widespread out break of foot and mouth disease among cattle, according to expert l opinion in the department of agricu,- 1 ture. But all meats should be well l cooked and all milk should be boiled l according to the New York Times. we have had outbreaks o1 foot and l mouth disease in this country from time to time during the last 50 years, but none to approach the present one | in seriousness and extent of spread, said pr. John R. Mohler, chief pathol- | ogist of the bureau of animal induscry in Washington, to a. correspondent. "On the worst of previous occasions not more tlan four states had to be quarantined; this time the drastic pre- cautionary measure has been extende to 15 states. forbidding the interstate transportation or export of cattle, sheep, swine, the hides and hoofs Of such animals, hay, straw, etc. Source Unknown.
 s'ewe have ID means of knowing from what source the epidemic orig inally started. It was at Niles, Mich that the disease was first discovered. and investigation proves that it iaS spread over large part of the middle antined are New York, New Jersey and Delaware, Massachusetts and Rhode IslaEd, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The malady has been car ried by infected cattle into Montana.
 Housewives have no need to fear diseased meat in the markets In the first place, we are rapidly killing off and burying all animals affected by he complaint Secondly. even though such meat were to find it's way to some body's table, it would be harmless 1n- less eaten raw. Cooking kills the germs.
 Boil Babies Milk.
 ''On the other hand, people in tile quarantined areas would do well 10 boil their milk--especially that which is given to babies. Raw milk derived from cows si ,K with foot and mouth disease is dangerous. Boiling is an easy precaution and well worth talk ing.
 Nobody knows where foot and mouth disease originated, but 1t has been permanently established in Er- rope for centuries. and from that source it has been repeatedly intro duced into the United States. In one noteworthy instance, however, the Se- rious epidemic of 1898, it appears to have been imported from Japan.
 Highly Contagious.
 "The nIalady is otherwise known as 'aphthous fever or eczema epizco- tica.' It is a highly contagious fever caused by a bacterial germ that has never been identified Cprobabiy for the reason that it is too small to be seen by the highest power n1icroscope) and its. most characteristic symptom is an eruption of blisters in the mouth, around the feet above the hoofs, an1 between the toes.
 Although regarded as in particular a disease of cattle, it readily attacks hogs also, as well as sheep and goats. The buffalo, the camel, the deer, the fnf1 N1r-trr ~ the giraffe are subject to the com pIa1nt- Horses, dogs, cats and eVel poultry sometimes acquire the infee- ton and help importantly to spread #.
 Man Not Immune.
 Man himself is not immune, and human beings in many instances suf- fer from foot and mouth disease children especially, as result of drinking milk from infected cattle. Adults who come into contact with sick animals are liable to contract the malady. In such cases the symptoms resemble those observed in cattle. There is fever and difficulty in swaI. lowing, followed by an eruption of blisters in the mouth and occasionally by a similar breaking -out on the hn- gers.
 ''The disease has appeared so sel- dom in the United States, and out breaks of it have been so restricted Tn their spread, that the great losses which it may cause are not appreciat- ed by our people. They have had no experience of an epidemic of sufficient magnitude to illustrate it's serious character. Efforts have been made to show that the malady was mild, with a relatively small death rate, and some surprise has been expressed at the adoption of such radical measures as slaughter. The promulgation of such views, founded upon ignorance has had the effect of arousing a certain amount of opposition to the work of stamping ut the disease on previous occasions, hindering it's progress and eYea jeopardizing it's success"