The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1915-05-03
ACT AS TICK cATCHERS.
United States Public Health Service En-
lists Sheep To Fight Spotted Fever.

| 1900 NN~f ~ fb"s ePNetSe AN'Nhs
Besides utilizing sheep as a source OF
food and clothing, the careful studies
of the United States public health serv-
ice have demonstrated their value as
sanitary agents Ticks which carry
Rocky Mountain spotted fever become
entangled in their long, greasy wool
and die. This prevents the spread Of
the disease. No ticks--no fever
/ We have in the United States truly
| American disease. So far as it is known
this is the only disease which is pc
culiar to the United States. 1t is called
Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and is
| found in practically all of the Rocky
Mountain states. 1t ia conveyed to man
by the bite of wood tick, which burys
its head beneath the skin of its victim
| and thus introduces the virus which
causes tick fever. In many of the states,
such as Colorado and Utah, the disease
is not very fatal, only about 5 per cent.
of the persons stricken with the disease
losing their lives.
On the west side of the Bitter Root
valley in Montana, the disease is unus-
ually severe and the United States gov
crnment, acting through the public
health service, has been endeavoring to
discover way to eradicate it.
Passed Assistant Surgeon T. b. Me
Clintic visited the Bitter Root valley in
the summer of 1911 for the purpose of
studying the disease and determining ii
possible way in which to stamp it out. |
1t was found that on the west side of the |
valley in the lands which had not been
cleared Of underbrush that ticks existed I
in large numbers. The immature or baby |
ticks were found attached to small ami
mails, such as ground squirrels, weasles
and chipmunks, while the adult ticks
were to be found on cattle and horses,
Mr. McClintic laid out an area about
three miles wide and five miles long and I
built dipping vat in which he gave all /
the cattle and horses in the neighbor-
hood an antiseptic bath every two weeks.
He also killed off as many of the ground Il
squirrels, chipmunks and weasles as pos
sible. The following year, Mr. McClintic
returned to continue the work, and lost
his life from the disease which he was
lighting.
In 1913 another officer volunteered for
this highly dangerous work. He estab-
lsHtu HIS AT NltbOis
md there began operations against the
disease. In studying the two sides of
he valley, he noticed that whereas there
we're many sheep on the east side of the
falley, where Rocky Mountain spotted
ever does not exist, there We're practi-
ally no sheep on the west side of the II
alley, where the disease appears every
ear. Opening into the west side of the
alley there is smaller valley in which
re good many sheep. In this valley Il
lex fever does not exist. This set him II
o thinking and he wondered if it We're Il
ot possible that the ticks became en- II
angled in the long wool of the sheep | Il
nd died before they could reach the |
kin of their victim. In this way it
1ight be possible that sheep grazing
yer given piece of land would free it q
I ticks. He secured some sheep and Y
licked all OF the ticks off them. He f
hen drove them through badly tick in s
ested country and found that they S
licked up many ticks. just as he had p
opposed, these ticks became entsngled {
the long wool and died. RI
The following year the United States p
ublic health service rented a band of n
leep and pastured them in that part f
the Bitter Root valley which hither- Ii
, had had the most cases. Ii was il
,und that they collected large mum r
ira of ticks. The sheep were carefully ST