The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1914-04-10
AN EXPERIMENT WITH TUBERCU
LOSIS,

Inc PROBLEMS presented ny LnC
widespread existence OF tuberculosis
i'm dairy cattle are manifold. They
bear on human experience in connec-
ton with the hygiene Of the milk
supply, which is assuredly matter OF
no small concern to all classes Of
society. The question OF tuberculosis
in cattle involves the economics Of
agriculture to a far greater degree
than the uninitiated can appreciate;
for the disease has manifested itself
so widely that the hope of complete
eradication must be deferred for a
long time, to say the least. Further
more, the outcome OF the manage
ment of tuberculous herds may point
the way for advantageous applications
in the field of human treatment or
prevention.
In view of the enormous practical
difficulties i'm the way of the complete
eradication of tuberculosis in cattle
by the wholesale slaughter of all ami
mails known to be infected with tuber-
culosis, schemes for utilizing the lat
ter have been devised. The most
prominent of these il the system
whereby tuberculous COWS are iso-
lated and used for breeding purposes,
the calves being removed from the
mothers at the earliest moment and
brought up without further exposure
to the disease. This has been rem
dered possible by the finding that
such young are regularly born in per-
feet health, and entirely free from
tuberculosis. The affected breeding
cattle in this way do not become an
entire economic loss. A ten-year in
vestigation, carefully varifed and
supervised by government officials,
has just been reported by Brooks in
connection with what is probably one
OF the most valuable herds Of
Holstein-Friesian cattle In the world.
The object was to produce a herd
of Holstein cattle free from tuburcu-
lous faint and vet endowed with all
the most valuable strain-character-
istics possessed by this breed. Ami
mails were selected because of their
desirability, entirely Independent Of the
presence or absence Of tuberculosis.
The tuberculous animals greatly out
numbered the non-tuberculous. Three
hundred tuberculous animals were
studied. The existence of tuberculo-
sis was determined by the administra-
ton Of treble the official dose Of
tuberculin, repeated in non-reacting
animals three times at intervals of
six months. al animals reacting to
either test were removed at once to
the tuberculous farm so that there
was no possibility Of the transmits
sion Of infection from the tuberculous
group to the healthy one. AT birth
the calves are Immediately taken
from the mother. Feelings are on
pasteurized milk collected indiscrimi-
nately from sound and tuberculous
animals.
OF more than two hundred calves
born of the tuberculous herd. not one
has become tuberculous, although all
have been tested three times by mas
sive doses OF tuberculin. These ami
mails are rather more resistant to
tuberculosis than animals born OF
non-tuberculous parents. No falling
off in type, in milk production Oh
fertility is present in these calves, no
increase i'm death-rate exists among
them as compared with the offspring
of healthy cattle, no falling Off in
value takes place, and several of the
most valuable cows and bulls in the
world are of this ancestry. These
facts, says The Journal of the Ameri-
can Medical Association, remain con
slant even where at least three gener-
ations Of known tuberculous parent
age exist.
To the plain DeoDle of the country