The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-21


 appeared in the Birmingham district with in the past several days, is the subject of
 highly important health bulletin issued yesterday by pr. R. NJ. Cunningham, city health officer
 As has been published, four or five COW carcasses have, upon examination, been shown to contain the germs of the deadly disease, which is very contagious and which attacks man as well as cat tie. although not to the same extent.
 Every means possible is being taken by the health authorities to stamp out the disease in it's incipiency. This is be- ing done largely through stringent en- forcement of an ordnance especially adopted a few days ago for the purpose and by which every sick and dead cow in the county must be brought to the attention of the health department by it's owner immediately, when he discovers the animals condition
 Through this means the health depart ment expects to burn all carcasses and so guard sick animals that the disease will
 be prohibited from gaining foothold The discussion of the disease by pr. Cum ningham is as follows:
 | HEALTH BULLETIN NO. 26 l ANTHRAX.
 This disease is called by many other names-for example: Malignant pustue, contagious carbuncle, bloody mlrian, sp1eenc fever and many others, so-called i because of their characteristic symptoms and type of the disease.
 Geological Distribution
 | Nearly all animals. including man, are susceptible in different degrees to the disease. All warm-plooded vertebrates are susceptible Animals with cloven hoofs are particularly susceptible. Veg etable eating animals are most likely to | have the disease, and meat-eating animals least. Man occupies an intermediate de- gree. Primarily it is a disease of ani- | mals.
 Types
 | There are two general types of the disease; external and internal The first l takes the form of sores upon the skin, e. g., malignant pustules; the latter are | the lung and bowel types.
 The disease is caused by anthrax bacil- l lus This bacillus is from to 10 microns long, and from 1 to 11a microns broad. 1 It is, therefore, a rather large germ, usually appearing in rows or chains, and when stained makes a characteristic ap- pearance in the microspocic field. They l 1 disease, and are found in the blood secretions and organs, particularly the l spleen and liver. They are discharged l from the body in the blood, when there l is hemorrhage, bowel discharges and the | secretions. The bacillus is spore-form- | ing germ and herein lies Its especial dan ger Spores are formed as follows: The protoplasm of the bacilli begins to dry | up, forming a kind of capsule, which 1 enclose a little body in the center called l the spore It is in this that the vital and productive principle is lodged. One | bacillus makes or holds one spore. In the spore stage there is no growth or | multiplication of the bacillus, but the | vitality of the spore may last for long time. When the spore is introduced into a susceptible animal it immediately becomes active and swells up into a bacillus which | at once sets up the disease. The spore ] stage is the preservative stage or the bacillus. Anthrax spores are parucularly resistant They have been frozen in liquid air PIP degrees Fahrenheit below zero, and they were not killed. and to tempera- tl1re of boiling point of water for more than an hour before they died, and 1sO degrees centigrade dry heat before they
 were killed. They have been active after
 exposure to one to 100 bichloride of mer-
 cury and lived. These experiments show
 the great resistance of anthrax spores
 
 spores do not form in the body during the attack as they require free oxygen
 for their formation These spores i've indefinitely in the soil, on grass Tn pas tures etc. They also live in dust water and on walls of buildings, forage, etc.
 The bacillus itself is not very resistant
 and readily succumbs to an unfavor- able environment. Therefore, the prob-
 lem of prevention has to do with the destruction of the spores
 Mode of Infection in Animals
 "The medium of transfer to others,
 including human beings the blood se- cretions, flesh and hair from those m fected" (Tyson and FusselD. An thrax does not spread from animal to animal by contact or association, in- : lection taking place as a rule through the intestines from the ingestion or forage containing the spores. The re-
 fuse from tanneries and the washngs !, from infected works have been proven ! l to play an important part in the spread , of anthrax, through the infection oi : pastures" (Ravenel, in Osler's Modern 7 Medicine). Among animals it can be conveyed by direct inoculation; proba- , bly bites or stings of insects, or bites of dogs that have easten the hesh ol
 animals dying of the disease. It is also transmitted indirectly by animals feed ling in damp meadows or on moist soils where the SpeclnC Oi iSauiSbi NoheoiHcN in the depecta of previously diseased animals may have been preserved in a an active condition" (Taylor) ] Mode of Infection in Man l. Predisposing causes. These are
 chiefly occupational, e. 2. farmers butchers veterinarians, wool sorters hair workers, brushmakers, tanners = hide dealers, etc, all those whose work brings them in contact with ami r mals or animal products in the raw stage
 2.-Specifc cause. This is the anthra, bacillus or its spores.
 The infection may be external upoi
 the skin, external anthrax, or 1t may = be internal through the inhalation o e dust infected with the spores (wool e sorter's disease) or swallowed witt food, intestine type. "Gastro-intestina jsnthrax may result from eating th' , flesh of drinking the milk of animals . with the disease. This mode of infection is rare in man." (RaveneD. "In sucl Ilinstances (general infection) the bacil Jus gains access to the body by bein, swallowed in milk or other food. (Hare). "Infection in man occurs iron | the living animal, or from carcass, ant | this Is much more common. Rarely 1 \ may be contracted from eating the fiesl of diseaseed animals. (Taylor). "Bacill
 may enter the system through cuts il
 the mouth and throat, but usually di
 rectly invade the intestines and stomac
 ,rbicb arc mora freuuently infected b,