BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1332, 9 January 1912, Page 8

BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS.

UNITED STATES FAKMKKS' BULLETIN. A recent bulletin issued by the United States Department of Agriculture duals with the history, nature, and symptoms of bovine tuberculosis, also how tl-e disease spreads, how a herd is infected, the tuberculin test, and pievunlui.i m.u suppression. "Tuberculosis,'' the bulletin states, "is a widespreaed disease affecting animals and also man. Human beings and cattle are its chief victims, but thero' is no kind of animal that will not take it. Hogs and chickens are quite often affecteel; horses, sheep, and goats being affected but seldom, however. "The disease is contagious. It. spreads from cow to cow in a herd until most of them are affected. ,It is slow in developing,, and may not become noticeable for months or even years. Tho tuberculin test, which can not do harm to the healthy cow, reveals the germ in a few hours, and always proves successful when in the; hands of an experienced veterinarian." "Tho disease is common among hogs," the bulletin goes on. "The public abattoirs report that a serious percentage of hogs inspected is found to be tuberculous. The losses among cattle and hogs are enormous, amounting to millions of dollars aumially." Turning to the* infection of human beings with tho tuberculosis germ through cattle, the bulletin says: "Milk is the staple food of infants and young children ami is usually- taken in the raw state. If this milk is taken from a tuberculous cow it may contain millions of living tubercle germs. Young children feel on such milk often contract tlie disease, and it is a frequent cause of death among them. "Meat from tuberculous cattle is not so likely to convey the infection for several reasons. It does not so frequently contain the gevms, cooking destroys those that may be present, and lastly, meat is not consumed by verv young children." A> to the spread of the disease, tho bulletin says: "Sooner or later the tuberculous cow begins to give off the germs of tho disease. Tho germs escape by the mouth and nose, the bowels, in the milk, and in discharges from the genital organs. When the germs aro being given off in any of these ways, the disease isknown as open tuberculosis." The •bulletin concludes with: "Dark, dirty, crowded stables are favourable to tuberculosis. Under these conditions the disease spreads rapidlv, and is only kept out with difficulty. " "Clean, airy well-lighted stables, on the other hand, are unfavourable to the development of the disease. If brought into such a stable it does not spread' so rapidly and is not so difficult to get rid of as iu the first case. "A well-built, sanitary stable need not be made of expensive materia! or of elaborate design, but should have plenty of light, air, and drainage. "Light is very important. Direct sunlight is a great destroyer of germ life. Tubercle bacilli soon die if exposed to sunlight. It is a disinfectant, always ready to work without cost."