TUBERCULOSIS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1776, 14 June 1913, Page 19

TUBERCULOSIS.

DETECTING IT IN DAIRY HEADS,

Tuberculosis, probably, is causing moio loss to dairy farmers than all other dis eases of the dairy cow combined. Man.v breeders of dairy cattle are afraid to tost theit herds for fear of finding that thoy have the dread disease. ■

From his experience with hiberoulosis, ?„•" Hayden, of tho dniversity of Illinois, gives the following points on tho detection of tho disease in tho herd:— "There is a common belief ihat a cow which has the disease will cough. This may or may not be true, because it de pends on whether or not the ■ throat or lungs aro affected. There are other did' eases which affect these organs and cause cattle to oough; consequently, a couch may or may not indicate tuberculosis. Unfortunately, the disease rarely appears on the outsido i of the body, and because of this fact it is difficult or impossible to discover its presence by physical examination until it is well advanced, when the animal goes down rapidly in condition and yields to no treatment.

"Sometimes it appears aa an enlargement of the glands of the 'throat, causing coughing and difficulty in. breithing, or as a, hard lump in, or enlargements of, parts of tho udder. However. other causes may also bo responsible for tho latter trouble. No farmer should permit a coir which has died or been killed to be buried without nn examination of tho lungs and the glands between the lungs and on the intestines, unless death was caused by some contagious ■ iscasd which there is danger of spreading. Fro quently such an examination would reveal tho presence of tho disease in a herd where it was not suspected. Tho tuber culm test is practically the only means by which it can bo discovered during it!" early stages. Effoct on Organs. "Tho appearance of tuberculous organs is very characteristic, so that the disease is easily recognised after it has enco been pointed out in its different forms.. It would be a fine thing if erery farmer could readily recognise it in slaughtered animals. Hard lumps or cavit'es in tho lungs, containing pns, enlarged glands containing pus, or having a 'corn meal' appearance, white nodules or abscesses m tho liver, knots or bunches on the walls of tho lung cavity or intestinal cavity, should be looked upon with much suspicion and considered tuberculous unless they aro shown to bo otherwise.

"As has been previously stated, tuberculosis oannot be detected easily in its earlier stage by a physical or outward examination; in fact, this is impossiblo in the majority of cases. If a cow grows thin (pinos'away), has a persistent cough, or swollen, glands of tho neck, 6ho 6nould be considered suspicious. However, these symptoms usually appear after tho disease is well advanced and the cow has done great damage by infecting other cattle. , For this reason these symptoms are of no value except to warn the owner, after it is too late, that his herd is diseased, One reliable method of detecting tuberculosis when it should be detected is the tuberculin test. How Test Works. , "In brief, (his consists in determining the normal temperature at least four (preferably more) times at equal intervals between five o'clock in the morning and eight o'clock in the evening of a given day. About eight o'clock in the evening a certain amount of tuberculin, varyins with', tho size of Hie animal, is- injected beneath the skin. On tho following day the temperature is taken every two or two and a half hours. If the temperature rises and subsides gradually, giving what is called a typical reaction curve, with the highest temperature two or more degrees alx>ve that of the itrrevious day, tho cow is considered tuberculous. * There are many things which may affect the results of the test, and, therefore, it should not be applied by persons wlio nave not been properly instructed in its use. Test Docs Not Injure Cattle. "Some persons fear that tbo use of tuberculin mil give cattle tuberculosis. It cannot, because tho genus have been killed, and then removed. It is possible that, in case tho animal injected is d seased, it may cause the disease to become more active.' but this has not been definitely proved. If a cow is healthy, tuberculin has no effoct when injected. nor afterward, so far as the no*t autlioriti"s have been able to determine. "It does not affect the milk of a healthy cow; in manv eves the milk from herds under test has been supnlied to children and adults as usual, and in no ease hn.« it lven definitely shown to cause nny trouble. If n cow reach, the fever produced mav affect the nunlitv of t';« niPJr. and it would be best to exclude the milk of such animals during and after the reaction." ■