The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1926-05-06

healthful climate. with our wide
open spaces sparsely settled ant
with a robust. healthy people
there is less danger of contract
ing contagious disease than there
is in the congested OF the
east. The tourist, before starting
out on a trip, should protect him
elf against typhoid fever by vac
cination. A thirsty tourist viii
often drink from a stream with
out first acertaining whether OF
not the waters are contaminated.
It is not unusual for a party to be
broken up on account Of one OF
its members developing typhoid
fever enroute. Proper vaccination
would have prevented this, or
proper precaution against drink
ing water of doubtful or unknown
quality. In the early days the
mountain streams Of Montana
were comparatively free from con-
tamination, but as the country has
settled up, but few Of these
streams along the recognized high
ways ear be relied upon as abso-
lutely safe for drinking purposes
A supply of pure water should be
carried by the tourists. This can
be obtained from the towns
through which they pass. All pub
lie water supplies in the State OF
Montana are under the control OF
the State Board of Health and as
a general rule they are free from
contamination so that a safe sup
ply of water can be obtained in
nearly all of our towns. 1t is
just as important for the tourist
to carry with him his water sup
ply as it is that he carry a food
supply. By acting upon these sug-
gestions, the tourist will practical
lv insure himself against typhoid
fever.
Tourists accompanied by chill
dren should exercise great care
when purchasing milk, to see that
it comes from a sanitary dairy re-
commended by the local health de-
partment. Milk from a doubtful
source should be boiled before Civ
en- to children.
considerable publicity has
been given in recent wears to the
fact that there occurs in Montana
each year during the spring
months a disease known as Rocky
Mountain Spotted Fever or tick
fever. This disease is due to the
bite Of an infected woodtick. This
disease is not peculiar to Mon
tana, in that it occurs in Wyo-
ming, Idaho, Colorado, Washing.
ton, Oregon. Utah, and the north
eastern part Of California. 1t oc-
ours only in the spring months
during the seasonable activity Of
the woodtick. In June the wood.
ticks begin to disappear, going
down into the ground, and by the
first of July they have practically
all disappeared except possibly
high up in the mountains. But
few Of these ticks are found along
the main tourist trails of the
state and this is possibly the rea.
son why we have no reports of any
out of state tourists having con.
tracted the disease in times past
Our own people who go out week
ends on camping and fishing trip;
should take particular precautions
against being bitten by these weed.
ticks, especially in areas known tC
be infested with infected ticks.
"The U. S. Public Health Ser.
vice, working in cooperation witt
the State Board of Entomology
has developed a vaccine which may
prove to be of great value in pre-.
venting this disease. The vaccine
is still in the experimental stage
but the indications at the present
time are that spotted fever viii
soon join the list Of diseases thai
can be prevented by vaccination
"Malaria, which has claimed SC
many victims in the southern
states, does not occur in Montana
There is no record Of any case OF
this disease having originated in
this state.
"The tourist who camps out in
the open runs little risk of con-
tracing the ordinary communica-
BILE diseases, although he should be
vacc;nated against smallpox, as
should every good citizen.
"Now for a moment let US con-
slider the second phase of the ques-
tion-the danger Of the tourist
bringing into this state diseases
from some of which we have in
times past been entirely free.
'First and foremost amongst
these is rabies. Up until two
years ago Montana never had a
case of human rabies, being the
only state in the union free from
this disease. The reason for this
is probably due to the fact that
early in our history al a state,
the livestock sanitary board passed
a regulation recurring health GER