The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-07

THC carrying on OF WHT w hCIiCO
uoUh De- ldrDcly M insect problem.
That is so because the CmcicncD Of
an army dCpcndS on the hcnHh Of
soldiers, and most Of the diseases
rhich hare iccdkcncd armies IN the
past arc spread by insects This
Interesting phase Of the situation
Is brought out in the intcrricu
secured by a correspondent Of THE
SUNDAY Sun Ia Washington cith
Or. Robert Blue, SurOcon-Gcncrdl
OF the rnitcd states Public Health
Service, irhich is printed belor.
history Of warfare that In
l. sects have been taken seri-
ously into account in The
planning of campaign.
TT is not because insects have all al
once begun To exercise malignant In
nuence upon the health Of troops, bu
because of new knowledge of the role
they play in relation to the physica
welfare of armies, knowledge gained
I'm considering the health problem
I'm relation to "a campaign in Mexico W.
are obliged To- take into account mos
qutoes. flies heas, lice, bedbuss anc
possibly ticks OF these all except tn,
malaria carrying mosquito and the TICK
live in or about human habitations ano
In intimate association with man.
ITO put the matter definitely. We are
called upon To deal with:
"The mosquito with tripod legs
known to science as Stcgomyia calopus
which is the carrier Of yellow fever.
1.-THE Anopheles mosquito, nigh
fiier, which is the carrier and distrib-
utter of malaria.
THE housctiy. which is a carrier Of
typhoid and other nlth diseases.
The common louise, which Is the car
rier of typhus fever.
THE flea, which is the carrier Of
plague.
THE tick. which Is the carrier OF
spotted fever, a very fatal disease whicf
has worked much mischief IN our Owl
Rocky Mountain region.
And finally the bedbug, which ha'
been accused Of carrying several dis
rier of kala-aZar--a febrile malady
marked by great enlargement Of the
spleen-has been definitely proved.
"The great medical problems inciden
tal to a prolonged strife with Mexico
would he. in my opinion. malaria, yellow
fever and typhus.
Against typhoid we are compare
lively safe. For the first time in his
tory great army is ready to take the
field thoroughly protected against thu
malady, which in the past has beer
such a wholesale destroyer of fighting
men. Taking advantage OF recent,
gained knowledge and of the costly les
sons of past campaigns the medica
corps OF the United States army undel
the skilful leadership of Brighten
Gorgas has erected barriers against tn
disease, not only by minimizing the sol
diers as individuals by vaccination bu
also by the adoption of means FOR th'
destruction of camp wastes. such wastes
being a fruitful source of Infection, an'
incidentally serving as breeding me
dunn for the typhoid carrying housefiy
Some day we may know how to i'm
munize men against yellow fever. bu
as yet we are acquainted with no means
whereby this can he accomplished, un
less by lnocuatng them with the dis
ease, an expedient hardly to be recon-
mended.
Thanks to the effectiveness of meth
DDS whereby this dangerous malady II
kept out of the United States or eradl
Gated when it does enter, few peopl'
in this country have had yellow fever
Consequently there are few immunes
and the raising of immune regiment
that are really immune does not offe
much promise. The hope, therefore
must lie in protecting the fighting MAJ
against the mosquito.
1.-THE yellow fever mosquito is b.
habit a companion of man. 1t lives il
and about houses. and is rarely foun'
far away from human dwellings. Orig
inally. in all likelihood, II was a ire
hole mosquito, laying its eggs in SINAI
Accommodations of rain water in cavi
ties in trees. Having become a domes
tic insect it deposits its eggs nowaday
most often in artificial containers, sue
as cisterns, says of roof cutters, oil
tin cans, broken bottles on the tops O
walls. cemetery urns, and other casua
receptacles for water.
The remedy Is obvious. Cistcrns an
rain barrels must De screened to rende
them mosquito proof: roofs must b
looked to; tin cans and bottles must h
gathered up and disposed Of. Thes
measures may be supplemented b
draining and filling, by oiling the sun
face of ponds, or by The use of salt q
other chemical agents fatal to til
Larvae and discouraging egg layinI
Small fishes may be planted in water
where other methods are inappliCable.
THE individual must he protected u
screens for dwellings,, tents or otht
habtations, 1t is important that all cast
OF yellow fever shall he diagnosed by a
expert and that sufferers from Il
disease shall hc carefully dcfcndt
against access 10y mosquitoes lest tn,
infect the insects and thus encoural
the distribution Of the malady. Ever