Smyrna times., 1924-12-17
TO FIGHT ''T. B." IN CATTLE
Inspection Has Caused Twenty Per
Cent. of Deaths Among Children

SNhNe VI ONeAthS 1AAuOAS AANh
Milk as a carrier for tuberculosis
germs is stressed by r. c. Beckett,
sanitary engineer of the State Health
and Welfare Commission who at
present is engaged in a second survey
of flocks nd dairies throughout the
state of Delaware seeking to learn
whether the suggestions and informa-
tion given dairmen and milk prOduc-
ers last spring has worked a beneficial
| effect. One of the first activities of
/ the health commission last year was
| inaugurating a program to make milk
from Delaware cows as high in clean
| illness and as free from disease germs
as any herds in the country The
propaganda work is continuing and
| through personal visits to the milk
producers, in lectures and conferences
in printed material and bulletins, the
milk producer whose herd has not
| been tested for tuberculosis or whose
brns may be filthy is being shown
how much better it is if the herd has
all tubercular animals eliminated and
| the barns and stables cleaned up.
''Milk serves as a conveyOr of in
fection," said Mr.. Beckett, whether
it be milk of nursing mothers or the
milk of tuberculosis cows. Formerly
it was thought that in order to pro-
duce infection by milk, there must be
a local tuberculosis infection of the
udders, but it is now known, that the
germs may be found in the milk,
when adjacent tissue is infected and
there is apparently no udder disease.
Butter too, may contain tubercule
baccili in considerable numbers
but as the butter is usually stored,
the bacill gradully dies. When we
consider the prevalence of tuberculO-
sis among cows, we can readily real
ize that even if the bovine bacilli is
not very pathgenic for man, there is
great danger to children who are con-
stantly exposed to the infection.
"The milk from cows suffering
from tuberculosis usually contains
several hundred bacili per &C., but
may also contain many millions. The
mixed milk from a herd which would
tend to dilute the milk of cows ex-
creting tubercular bacilli may be bad
ly infected from one COW, especially
if this cow is diseased. Bacilli has
been found in from 10 to 30 per cent
of city milk examined. About 10 per
cent of the cattle slaughtered in vari-
= Gus countries have been found to
| A,,I.o...,,1a~s- h,rA bn
: er of infection from eating the meat
= of tuberculosis cattle is very Slight
( This is owing to the fact that the
I meat is usually cooked before eating
and because the muscular tissues are
seldom involved.
Careful study of all the factors
l lead US to estimate that about 20 pei
e cent of all deaths caused by tubercu-
losis in children under yeras of age
!. is due to bovine infection and the
r milk is not pasteunzed.
e "What the presence of bovine tub
t erculosis means to the children Ot
Delaware is very strikingly revealed
y in reports of tuberculosis deaths oc
l, curing during the year of 1872
= which is the latest information W.
{. have. There were last year 25'
/, deaths from tuberculosis including
D." both white and black. Two hundret
e and twenty-five of these deaths wer
t from tuberculosis of the lungs. Tub
?. erculosis caused 7 and $40 per cen
of the total deaths in Delaware. Thi
# was divided into 13 per cent amoni
o the colored people and 6 and 7-1O pc
Il cent among the whites. OF the Y
IS deaths of tuberculosis Of the lungs
ie 1O3 or almost as per cent occurre
If among people between 20 and q
\ years of age, or in other words at tn
age when a man is most productiv
D. and the greatest value to the stat
is and union.
s. "Of the "a deaths from tuberculo
ID sis other than of the pulmonary type