Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1922-11-01
Tuberculin Testing the Dairy Cow.

The extent and rapid increase of
bovine tuberculosis has, during re-
cent years, caused alarm, and rightly
the general food supply and it's great
danger to human health, admitting,
as we must, the increase of this dis
ease, among our producing ami
mails, particularly cattle and swine,
it appears that this fact should cause
as great concern from practical
health standpoint, irrespective of the
direct communicability of tuberculosis
from animal to man. The important
question as to whether bovine tuber-
culosis can be directly communicated
to man has attracted considerable at
tention in this country for several
years and has been discussed at sew
eral medical meetings and by scien-
tific men generally for the past sew
eral years. The conclusion has been
reached by the most advanced think
ers and writer's that bovine tubercu-
losis is readily transmitted to man.
Of all the diseases that affect
humanity, tuberculosis is the most
fatal. 1t has been conservatively es-
1,O95,OOO deaths from this disease
throughout the world, representing
5000 each day, two for each minute.
In the United States there are, &C
cording to DIR. Frederick L. Hoffman,
actuary of the Prudential Life Insur>
ance company, 100000 deaths annual
ly, at an average of 35 years of age
A pamphlet issued by the Prudential
Life Insurance Co., says, Each of
these deaths represents a loss of 80
years, so that the loss of life, if
measured in time units, annually
amounts to the startling total Of
100000 years. In terms of earning
capacity the loss can not be set down
at less than $24O,OOO,OOO annually
from this disease in the United States
alone"
In Arkansas there is loss of ap-
proximately 5000 human beings from
tuberculosis annually, affecting chief
ages of 20 and 80, and at any time
approximately $4,000 people in the
states are totally or partly incapacit-
ated by reason of prevalence of tu-
berculosis. Ten per cent. of the pa
TENTS in one sanitarium at Denver
are from Arkansas. tuberculosis
kills as many people, young and old,
as diphtheria, Group, whooping cough,
scarlatina, measles and typhoid fever
taken together. Therefore, it is a So
cial problem worthy of our serious
consideration. During the past few
years this problem has been receiving
an increased amount of earnest at
! tention. Only few years ago it was
neglected and there was, in fact, no
social effort being made to combat it's
ravages, where as at the present
time there is we'll organized move
ment looking to the eradication and
prevention of this terrible. disease
| structed how by proper precautions
the afflicted may be cured and the
we'll prevented from contracting tu-
Derculosis.
1t is an indisputable fact that tu-
berculosis can be acquired by inges-
ton as we'll as by inhalation and in
oculation, but until recently the part
played by cows milk in the transmits
sion of this disease has not begun to
receive serious consideration. That
many persons, both old and young,
have been infected with tubercle ba-
cili through the milk of cows suf-
fering from this disease, is one of the
best attested facts in modern pathol-
ogy, but the extent to which children
are the victims of this plague is only
now Delng recognized. Many OF the
leading conservative authorities have
long held that feeding upon milk from
tuberculous cows is one of the causes
of infection to which close attention
should be given. Prof. Won Behring
goes very much further and says that
\ the milk fed to infants is the chief
cause of infection. Dr. E. F. Brush,
one of our best authorities, regards
all tuberculosis as being of bovine
origin.
When extensive campaigns againsl
tuberculosis of cattle we're launched
many persons interested in the dairy
business predicted that giving publ
city to such conditions would alarm