The Daily News FRIDAY, MAY 8. THE FLY AND DISEASE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 117, 8 May 1908, Page 2

The Daily News FRIDAY, MAY 8. THE FLY AND DISEASE.

A recent cable informed us that in- I iiuential (iernians were seeking to lire- j vent the carrying out of Dr. Koch's intended ciprimenU in coping with that dreaded disease, .sleeping sickness, m 1 '•crinan Ka»t Airica. Dr. Kucli's plan is 1 tlie big game of the (lis- lmcL Tile animals, the eminent, seien- ! list in question holds, are responsible tor the propagation of the disease, liui rie intliieiitial' (Jermans apparently ; do not like tlie prospect uf having their s l K 'i'L interfered with, even if sucli a. cour.se is rendered .'"-cessary in the interest* of health. The fly has its use as a domestic scavenger, but, like the rat and mosquito, scientists have proved that the fly is an active ageut in the -pread 01 diseases, and must be treated | as a. danger to the health of mankind. I 1 he construction of the Panama Canal at- the present vigorous rate was only made possible h lien officers of the 1 liiled States Public Health Department e"»c to the isthmus anil with kero--eiie sprays and the ctlicient drainage "I Mvainps hail driven out that (lisseniiuator ol malaria, the mosipiito. .Now that tli,. responsibility for much ol the typhoid fever anil other intestinal diseases that occur is attached to the huuse-lly, similar methods of extermination are proposed, and medical men have declared that the sanitary war of the future must be against this little pes'..

The matter \va> recently taken up li a committee of tlio .Merchants' Assoi-j: tioji of Sew York, which iu a repor presented to Governor Hughes da-la re it> belief that it was possible to redue the deaths l>y typhoid fever in >,e\ Vurk City from (ijO to 3(51) annually, th deaths from diarrhoeal diseases ' froi "HOD to 2(1011, and to prevent 50,000 otlie tases of sickness every year—and to ac eomplisli this by very simple methods o sanitation. The recommendation is base upon a series of exhaustive investiga lions made last summer into the rela tions between house-flies and the sprea <>t intestinal diseases. The report show thai ''the deaths from intestinal diseas ro*e above the normal at the same tim at which the Hies became prevalent culminated at the same high point; an fell oil' with a slight lag at the gradua lalling-01l of the prevalence of the in sects; also that even this secondary pre valence of Hies in September is year I reflected in the death-rate. The eon mittee does not base its conclusion merely on these observations. Fly trap: were placed all over the city, and thi Ilies collected daily were counted and examined. Most of them were found to be covered with bacteria of various kinds. On one specimen were counted more than 100,000 bacteria; "he had been walking on human excreta and was oil his way to the nearest milkpitcher."

The transmission of typhoid fever by mean.- of Hies (remarks World's Work, I "fiit-lt details the above facts) is nut a new di-covery. but the mosquito's part ir spreading malaria has received mure attention from tin 1 public. Since there are approximately 150 deaths in .New Yuri; from intestinal diseases to every death from malaria, the committee suggests that "the ominous buzzing in the pantry is more to be dreaded than the high-keyed note uf the mosquito ill the sleeping-room above." A fact brought out. and one worth noting at the present time, is thai Ihe war must lie waged in the winter time. It is estimated that in one summer there will be twelve generations of Ilies, the sexes being about equally divided, and that each lemale will lav about one thousand eggs. These figures show that extermination during the summer would be practically an impossibility, so some other mean's must lie found for protection against these nißTolie -carriers. The report states that certain precautions taken in the winter will do much to keep these pests in check. Investigations made reeentlv by the United .States Bureau of I'.ntomology .show that more than !I5 per cent, of the Hies in a city are bred in stables. The eggs arc laid in (lamp, dark corners wherever there is any refuse with which to cover them. Within 1 day or two maggots arc hatched from these eggs, and it is at this jieriod of its development, before it is really a lly at alt, that the insect's multiplication can lie controlled.

The Government's ex|K i rr- urge that all -table relllse Ik' kept in tightly-sealed bills. |||,. contents nf which should be removed at lixcd intervals by the eiiy authorities. They also recommend that all portion- uf the -table which cannot 1)1' kept scrupulously clean can be kept continuously sprinkled with parallin oil. 'lbis will kill tlie maggots before they develop into Ilies. For those which es[•a|ie this premature death further pitfall- ,-hould be laid. ft is suggested that advantage be taken of the young fly's chronic thirst by placing in every stable a basin of poisoned water. In this way it is thought another considerable portion of the season's crop of ilies can be destroyed before they have time either to injure the human race or breed descendants to do so. It is pointed out that to protect domestic animals from accidental poisoning a prescription for a standard tly-poisou solution, tempting to Ilies but unsavory to animals, should Ik- i-sued by the local health authorities.