Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1917-04-03

Il
tifc authorities in the United States
- and Europe are now generally united In
I~ declaring.
tTNAS} The dissemination through this in
sect of the epidemic infantile paralysis,
which last year killed thousands of New York's
children is but of the many counts in the in
dictment against the filthy fly. Infantile paraly
sis is peculiarly shocking because ii deforms chill
dren so cruelty, but in its destruction of life it is
far less serious than typhoid fever, which we
now know to be largely fy-borne disease. SINH
larly the fly probably causes far more mortality
through Its .instrumentality in spreading tubercu
loSis than as carrier of nfante paralysis.
All over the world scientists are studying The
fly, discovering dangers to public health
caused by it and suggesting new methods of ex-
terminating it.
DR.. L. o. Howard, the chief entomoiogist of the
United States government, now suggests that the
name typhoid fly" should be given to the common
house fly because the latter name fails to suggest
the deadly character.
Mr.. Howard tells how the deadly character of
the fly was proved by feeding flies with pure cul-
lures of the typhoid bacillus. Material from the
bodies of the insects and fyspecks made by them
were then examined and found to contain the
bacH This material injected into animals
aad proved to be yirulent.
Flies Carry Typhoid.
There were 250,000 cases of typhoid in the Unit
ed States last year, and over 80 600 proved fatal
During the Spanish-American war flies which had
swarmed over infected matter in the lime-strewn
pits walked over the soldiers food leaving traces
of lime Many cases of typhoid occurred, killing
far more than bullets. Officers whose tents were
screened from flies showed fewer cases. Typhoid
disappeared in winter, when flies were longer
about. Infected water was not important fac
tor in these camps, but majority of cases must
have been due to the flies More than so per cent
of the total deaths in the caused by
typhoid
The danger of infection is greatly increased by
the fact that typhoid germs may remain active in
persons intestines long after he has recovered
from fever. Dr. George A. Soper recently discov-
cred case of cook employed by several fani-
lies in the vicinity of New York. She had recov-
cred completely from typhoid fever, but she gave
the disease to members of every family where she
was employed. Four other cases of this kind are
mentioned by Doctor Howard.
Spread Enterc Fever.
During the Boer war 100000 British soldiers
laid up at time by enteric fever now
shown to have been spread by flies. Profting by
such lessons, the United States authorities the
Panama canal work protected<refuse against flies,
and this, together with the careful screening of
houses, adopted primarily as defense against
malaria, reduced typhoid to a negligible quantity.
4 long series of observations is being conducted
showing that flies play an important part in
spreading Asiatic cholera. The British warshp
superb, In the mediterranean, suffered from an
epidemic of cholera, which continued while at sea-
but on the disappearance of flies it ceased. Pro-
fessors Tzzoni and Cattani of Italy, in 1886, found
active cholera germs in the deposits of flies caught
In the cholera wards at Bologna, Italy
Cost Millions Year.
Doctor Howard says the decrease In the vital
assets of country through typhoid fever in a
single year is than $350,000,000.
The typhoid fly is also dissemination of tuber-
Dr. Frederick IT Lord the Boston ScioQ-
tist says:
"Fres may INCEST tubercular sputum and ex-
crete tubercle bacilli, the vrulence of which may
last for at least fifteen days"
Matter from tuberculous patients must, there
fore, not be allowed to come in contact with flies
and the patients should be screened for their own
good and that of the rest of the community.
Drs. w. NJ Esten and c. j. Mason of Storrs ex-
pertinent station, Connecticut, who counted $50 to
100000 bacteria on flies, observed that these in
sects carried contamination from the pigpens to
the milk il diaries.
Life History of Fly.
|. "The only remedy for this serious condition of
things" they say, lis to remove the pigpen as Tar
as possible from the dairy and dwelling house.
Extreme care should be taken in keeping flies
out of the COW stable, milk and dwellings"
Doctor Howard has traced the life history of
the fly, finding that 40 eggs are laid by sin~le
female, and that in Washington in midsummer
generation is produced every ten days. In ex-
perimenting he found that his flies would breed
only In horse waste but the evidence indicates
that they breed in various kinds of filth. His con-
clusion, however, is that the vast majority must
come from horse stables
As tested out and recommended by the United
States department of agriculture, sprinkling and
soaking such a pest heap with a solution of one
half pound of hellebore in ten gallons of
water (stirring vel and allowing 1t to stand for
"a hours), will destroy all the maggots, eggs and
larvae which are then present. Almost equally
good results, although not quite certain, can be
secured by sprinkling freely with powdered borax
and then pouring water over. so as to carry it
down all through the mass. The amount of helle-
bore solution required is about gallon to the
buShel of manure
recent calculation of the fy's rate Of inc-aase.