A TERRIBLE DISEASE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 7, 10 January 1899, Page 2

A TERRIBLE DISEASE.

THE PEBEDS .OF IT. ■ - >: . - ANTHRAX OUTBREAK IN VICr ..•/. TOBIAS" 'J>i ---iJ-"' If

Dr. T. Cherry, the demonstrator and f? assistant lecturer in pathology at the University of Kelbourne, has completed his'examination of the speci- : men submitted to him, which had been taken from one oi the draft of sheey . from Mr Mclaughlin's New Soutu Wales station, lie has ascertained beyond doubt that the sheep from which it was taken was suffering from ' anthrax.. ' ■ ■ • ■ '■' .•• -M Questioned as to the liability, ot human beings to the disease and its nature, Dr. Cherry was good enough .-<: to furnish-some interesting parti<alr'j|| lars. - Anthrax has been known in. Central Europe from time immemor- »; ial, and it is very prevalent in Siberia; indeed, it may be said to be eiideniia^l there. It is pathogenic among ali^i vegetable-feeding animals, .while carnivori are almost exempt, and man occupies an intermediate position. Even \vheri"it is contracted by :!«;?'i man beings it is seldom fatal if sub-a jected to treatment in time. ; ; tijij It is contracted in two forms by I man, the more common being what ia known as 'Wool itch' among people, i; employed in' the manufacturing -districts of Yorkshire in sorting and handling wool. To them it is communicated through the inhalation of the dust containing spores of the disease which has come from the ; fleeces of affected sheep. i Then shearers are liable to tha same form? —No; they contract the J, 'local' form of the disease, that is" ''-ivM say, they get it through inoculatioa,'.,-^ and their infection is shown by the presence of a malignant pustule at the point of contact. No general eruption is caused, and, as I have.sistjS| if taken sufficiently early, cures can, by vigorous treatment, generally be effected. Supposing meat required for human consumption be taken from an affect- . " ed carcase, would thorough cooking1 be a safeguard?-—That is by no means certain. Thus: Thorough boilin:: would certainly kill the mature germs, and so render the meat inocuous so ; far as they are concerned; but, besides them, the sr ores or seeds produced by. the bacilli have to be reckoned with.- They are exceedingly resistent to heat, and although the, parent germ might be destroyed t&"^? spore might survive the ordeal. The spores are not developed until thf< joint is cut, and they are exposed to oxygen. The process of thorouift§|| boiling would not be likely to destroy.^ them, and certainly the grilling of a chop or a steak would be very unlikely to affect them, except, of course, those which might be on the outer 4 j surface. In conclusion, Dr. Cherry said that the only certain way to ensure inr munity from disease by consumers of meat was to make sure that perfectly. h> healthy meat was used. ■ :