TUBERCULOSIS IN STOCK.

Waipa Post, Volume I, Issue 25, 11 July 1911, Page 4

TUBERCULOSIS IN STOCK.

A VALUACLE LEAFLET. Dean H. L. Russell, of the Wisconsin College of Agriculture, who is one of the foremost bacteriologists of America, and Professor E. G. Hastings, of the same college, have issued a circular “ On the Nature and Testing <f)t Tuberculosis.” Over sixty questions pertinent to the most practical survey cf this disease are considered and answered. Among them are the following : What is tuberculosis ? A transmissible disease caused by a specific kind of bacteria. The organisms leave the body of the diseased animal in various ways

and enter the body of a second healthy animal. What animals have tuberculosis ? All warm-blooded and some cold-blooded animals. Of the domestic animals, cattle, hogs, and fowls are most often affected ; sheep, horses, dogs,and cats but rarely. Most of the wild animals in captivity die of tuberculosis. Is one breed of animals more susceptible to tuberculosis than another ? —Cattle of any breed, beef or dairy, acquire tuberculosis quickly and easily, when once brought in contact with diseased animals giving off tubercle bacilli. The reasons why more dairy than beef cattle have been found to be affected are because of the much greater exchange, the longer period for which they are retained, and the closer confinement to which they are subjected. How is the disease introduced into a herd ? —I. By the purchase of diseased animals. 2. By feeding mixed factory by-products, such as raw creamery skim milk and whey. 3. By direct contact with an affected animal. What per cent of domestic animals have tuberculosis ? —lt varies widely in different countries and in different parts of the same country. From July, 1908, to July, 1910, over 90,000 animals, largely milch cows, were examined for tuberculosis in Wisconsin, and about five per cent were found to be diseased. What is the tuberculin test ? If a tuberculous cow has a small quantity of tuberculin introduced beneath the skin a temporary fever will result, which can be detected by taking the temperature of the animal; a healthy animal shows no such fever. Does the use of tuberculin injure animals ? Tuberculin has no ill effect whatever on healthy animals, and no harmful effect on tuberculous animals. It does not, in the amount used in testing, have any effect on the progress of the disease in the animal, nor can it in any way produce the disease. With many of our best herds it has been used regularly for ten to fifteen years with absolutely no injurious effects. The statements that the test causes abortion or other ailments are without foundation. The flow of milk is not changed to any appreciable extent, even in the case of tubercular animals. How can a diseased herd be freed from tuberculosis ? —Test the whole herd. Remove all reacting animals. Retest all suspicious animals in three months, and the entire herd again in one year and annually thereafter. Disinfect the stable.

How can a herd be kept free from tuberculosis ? —Test annually or at least every two years, and retest all suspicious cases in three months. Test every animal introduced into the herd at the time of purchase, and again in three months. Use a farm separator or feed only skim-milk and whey that have been heated.