Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1927-08-18
How Impure Milk May
Spread Tuberculosis
DIR. Dawson of Federal Government
Now In the County To Make
Bovine T. B. Tests


after the interests of the movement
to eradicate tuberculosis from the
cattle. The board of commissioners,
in the fiscal budget recently adopted,
carried an appropriation for this
work in Watauga county.
DR.. Dawson asks The Democrat to
publish the following in this connec-
ton, by DR.. Charles A. L. Reed, for
mer president of the American Medi-
cal Association:
If you live in well-regulated
American city you are probably bless
ed with regular scientific inspection
and control of your milk supply. If
you are not thus protected you don't
live in decent city. If you live in
the country and have your own cows,
and have the brains of the average
educated farmer, you will have your
cattle periodically inspected by
competent veterinarian.
w HN SHOulu lulS De UOue
There are dozens of answers. But
only one is necessary. 1t is the fact
that the germ of tuberculosis in
cows may be and frequently is car
ried by their milk to those who drink
the milk.
This is responsible for much sur
gical tuberculosis in children. 1t is
most common in those counties
where raw milk, butter, cheese and
other dairy products are consumed
most freely.
There are three recognized types
of tubercle bacillus classified as hu-
man, bovine and bird.
The human type causes consump-
tion pulmonary tuberculosis) among
other things, but the bovine type
does not. In fact, the two strains
seem to work against one another,
and it is possible that child who
contracts an infection from milk and
suffers from, say, enlarged glands of
the neck, may be immune from con-
sumption of the lungs all its life.
This, however, is not an argument for
maintaining a tuberculosis milk sup
ply.
The strain harbored by birds, the
avian type, is probably harmless to
man, but can infect pigs very badly.
1t did so much harm in Denmark that
laws had to be passed forbidding
chickens to be kept on farm.
To eradicate bovine tuberculosis
will take very long time. In Eng
land the number of cows infected is
enormous, and their compulsory seiz-
ure, isolation and slaughter is slow,
laborious and very costly business.
Meanwhile, however, there are two
means of mitigating the damage done
by this disease. PastcuriZation pro-
tects the children and preventive vac
cination protects the cattle.
Pasteurization of milk, as practiced
in every strictly modern American
city, saves thousands of lives every
year, and will continue to be indis-
pensable until tuberculosis in cattle
is completely stamped out. The vac
cination of calves against the infec-
ton may play large part in this re-
form.
Practically all calves are free from
tuberculosis when born. Those that
are to be immunised are therefore
separated from the mother at once
and fed on healthy milk for week.
They then receive an injection of
bacilli of an attenuated strain-a
strain which has been artificially cul-
tivated for long time and which has
become not only harmless but capa-
BILE of arousing the animals immuni-
ty to harmful strains. A week later
they are turned loose among the
other animals. Human tubercle
bacilli, killed by heat, are the type
used in this method of protection
Six hundred cases treated in this
way three and half years ago are
still immune, according to the tuber-
culin tests.
The problem of bovine tuberculosis
is the problem of immuning all calves
against the amount of infection they
are liable to encounter in ordinary
life. The scourge is preventable and
this is the way to eradicate it, a way
both safe and scientific.
To immunise children is much
more difficult, as they are susceptible
to bovine and human tuberculosis
alike. The author has made the ex-