The Nome daily nugget., 1937-08-16

Malta or undulant fever constantly, they have never been threatened with 1t in the epidemic form that the dry southwest has.
 Our knowledge of Malta fever came about In an interesting way. The island of Malta in the Mediterranean sea was an important military base for Great Britain after the Crlmean wars in 1855. There many of the English soldiers became i'll with fever of an unknown and puzzling origin. They were too sick for military duty and suffered from loss of weight, muscular weakness and fever over long periods of time Then in 1887 Prof. David Bruce of England discovered the germ causing this disease and found that it was present in goats milk, and that the female goat excreted the germ in her milk. Boiling the goats milk pre- vented Infections. It was further found that the germ caused abortion In goats.
 In 1897 Professor Wright of England injected himself with living culture of the germs and developed the disease. He studied the course of the ailment upon himself and found that he could use blood test to diagnose the disease.
 Scientists labeled the sickness "AIal ta fever' because it was investigated and worked out on the island of Malta. But the British government objected to the name as retlecting upon one of their island possessions. They said tho disease had been found to be prevalent In the neighborh0od of the Mediter- ranean basin and was not peculiar to the island of Malta. They suggested 1t be called Mediterranean fever, and. working through diplomatic channels caused the name to be changed.
 Professor Bang of Denmark in 1887 discovered germ which causes conta- gious abortion in cows. Later 1t wasl learned that this germ can cause inl man a long protracted illness charac. terized by fever, weakness and loss of weight, just as in the case of Malta fever. Because of the peculiar wave, like form of the fever curve this dis. ease Is called "undulant fever"
 But undulant fever Is not primarily a disease of man. It is in reality al disease of the unborn animal of thA barnyard. Cows or hogs or goats will carry the germ in their bodies, but itI does not cause disease until they be. come pregnant, and then the germ grows in the womb and causes abor- tion of the young. The abortng cali or pig or kid contains many millions of these germs The mother animal does not seem to suffer as a result of harbor ing these germs. The COW passes the germs into the milk, and hence mill; must be considered as source of in lection. Pasteurizing milk. however. kills the infection.
 The veterinarian can help more in preventing undulant fever than can the physician. The elimination of infec tious abortlons in cattle and pigs andl goats will prevent the disease in man So long as we have herds infectedl with this abortion bacillus, the bes. way to prevent undulant fever in mai Is to avoid contact with aborting ami. mals and to pasteuriZe milk before drinking.
 Most of the cases in Illinois are among people living on farms who are in contact with aborting animals. More men than women contract the disease, and the twenty to fifty year age seems to be the period of greatest suscep. tibility. There are few cases reported in Illinois among children but not nearly so many as among adult men.
 Undulant fever is difficult to dis tinguish from several other diseases, but it can easily be identified by labora- tory tests, which can be made in twen. ty-four hours.
 A patient with undulant fever has general muscular weakness, profuse sweating, fever at irregular intervals and a progressive loss in weight. But these symptoms are by no means typl. cal of undulant fever alone. The lab oratory test is essential.
 Treatment of undulant fever has re. mained unsatisfactory, although many workers have been devoting much time to 1t. Now comes a report from several doctors at the University of Cincinnati college of medicine that they have produced serum that has proved satisfactory in a number of test cases. The cure has not developed far enough for general use, however.