Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-08-17
HQSkin Letter
FREDERICK
]. HASkM
TWO RARE DISEASES.

come TO afflict man nobody knows, but,
because the disease they cause is sc
sharply localized, the public health sur
eeons suspect that some species OF
animal living in the San Joaquin valley
is serving as a reservoir for he con
tagion. :,
many more formidable enemies to hu-
man life to fight that it is devoting no
undue amount of attention to San
JoaUuin Valley disease. In the 20
wears since the disease has been rec
oynized. fewer than 80 cases have oc-
Cured in California. Consequently
the people of San Joaquin valley, de
spite the malady. continue to be good
life insurance lisks and can go to bed
of nights without worrying lest they
no invaded by the infection which some
branch of the native fauna is evidently
carrying around.
Another Queer Disease
OF much more concern to the public
health service lately is another dis
case now prevalent in the United
States. but little known to the public.
This ailmeIt is known as clonorchiasis,
or liver fluke disease. Although there
are hundreds and even thousands of
cases of it now existing in this country.
and the stage is apparently, all set for
it, not q single case OF clo~norchlasls
has ever been known to develop IN the
United States. 1t is entirely imported
by it's victims, most If not all Of whom
are Chinese and japanese. The public
health surgeons estimate oIihand !nat
one of every 100 Chinese in the United
States is suffering from it. Any alien
suffering with clOnorchiasis is barred
by the quarantine regulations from en-
tering the United States, but the dis
ease is often hard to detect, and I'M
doubtedly numerous sufferers get in.
The scientists studying clonorchiasis
have revealed the fact that nature can
outdo the most imaginative novelist
when it comes to stretching the long
arm Of coincidence. Most informed
persons are aware of the curious life
cycle of the malaria germ. which. after
leaving the body of a carrier, must I'M
dergo a stage of existence in the body
of a mosquito. The life cycle OF the
liver fluke. as the worm is called which
causes this disease, goes far beyond
that of the malaria germ in complexity.
Suppose a fiction writer were to de-
yeIop a detective story in which he
would nave the villain commit a MUIR
der in this way: The villain would i'm
plant a certain infection in q dog. Then
he would arrange it that the eggs of
the murderous organism should leave
the dog and take up residence in a
snail. The snail would then be eaten
BY a fish: and not by any fish but by
a certain kind of trout The trout
must then be caught and eaten by the
victim Of the plot; but the victim must
not cook the fish-he must eat it raw.
At this point. the editor TO whom such
a story was submitted would cease to
read and would send it back 10 its
author as preposterous.
Yet that is precisely what happens
when a Chinese contracts clonorchi-
asis. The liver parasite. first in the
form of its eggs. passes from dogs or
men to other men. through the medium
of two hosts. a certain aquatic snail
and a trout Of a certain species, IN
both of which intermediate stations it
completes stages of its existence. If
the fish were cooked, the worm would
be destroyed.
The public health scientists have
discovered that both the snails and the
fish of the requisite varieties exist to-
gether in this country. What saves the
American people from an epidemic of
cl~onorchiasis is the fact that they do
not eat their trout raw.
Liver fluke disease is seldom fatal,
but it is nevertheless. incurnble. Sci
ence has not yet discovered n poison
that will kill the parasite without first
killing the host.