The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-08-10
MOSQUITO AND FLY DEADLY.
DR.. A. E. Baker Tells of Dangers
From These Two Common Pests.

lanticville Improvement society meet
ing, delivered the following interest
ing address on "Public Health-1ts
Relation to Sanitation and the Pre-
vention of Diseases the society
unanimously requesting that it be
published:
''This is one of the most vital sub
jects of the age in that it pertains to
the health and longevity of mans
life," said DR.. Baker. "In proportion
to the advancement of the science of
medicine, we are daily becoming
more thoroughly acquainted with
the causes of diseases, the source
and nature thereof.
Gas an evidence of the progress of
this age, every State in the union has
a board of health, composed Of many
of the best medical minds. In this
way the different soils and climates
which are associated with special dis
cases are carefully studied. go,
The health of community is an
asset to it's financial progress. AS an
example: The lower section of South
Carolina has not yet developed or
kept pace with the other portions of
the State in the development of it's
resources, because of the malaria
which exists.
''This is a disease that is most
prevalent with us and should be most
carefully considered. The others
equally so are: Typhoid fever, hook
worm, tuberculosis, yellow fever and
Intestinal diseases. Ali of these dis
eases are preventable-in that we
know the cause of each one and how
conveyed to man.
Relation of Mosquitoes to Diseases.
.sThat mosquitoes spread disease
had been suspected for some time,
even as far back as the time of the
earliest medical writer's, when the
work of Ross in 1897 definitely prov
ed this fact in the case of malaria
fever.
s'It is a fact that malaria cannot
be transmitted from one person to
tanother except by the agency of the
anopheles mosquito. In short, if we
exterminated this one genus we
would have abolished malaria. While
such complete conquest may not
be possible, still an enormous reduc-
tion in the amount of malaria and
in the numbers of mosquitoes may
be effected, and since the measures
directed against anopheles will also
destroy all other forms, the relief
from annoyance will be vastly graft
flying.
'eA.aThat the measures to be urged
are possible and practical has been
proved by the operations of the Unit
ed States government near Washing
ton, the drainage of the New Jersey
marshes, the work of DR.. Doty, of
] New York, and last, but not least,
5 by the brilliant results achieved near
Charleston by the drainage commits
sion of our own county under the
3 leadership of Hon. James Cosgrove.
"The malarial germ or parasite
can enter the body only by the bite
OF an anopheles mosquito, which
mosquito must previously have suck
ed up the germ along with blood from
some other person having malaria of
several days duration. The mosquito
lis harmless unless it has previously
bitten malaria-infected individual.
Once in a persons blood, the germ,
or plasmodium, as it is called, can
continue to reproduce and multiply
indefinitely unless killed by medi-
cine, making it's victim sicker all the
time and gradually or rapidly de-
stroying the blood cells.
lit has never been proved that
malaria can be acquired or trans
mitted in any other way although
painstaking efforts have been made
by drinking swamp water, breathing
bad air, etc., in all such cases the
experimenters who volunteered to
sacrifice themselves failed to con-
tract malaria as long as they were
protected from mosquitoes.
cit is important to know the
habits of this malarial mosquito. II
feeds during the night from sundown
to sunrise the next morning. During
the day it goes into retirement. This
explains why the rice planter in the
low country does not contract ma
laria while on his plantation during
the day.
@*Also it is the habit of this mos
quito not to travel more than 100
yards from it's breeding place.
Yellow Fever, Filariasis and Dengue.