TUBERCULOUS MILK.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 150, 19 March 1908, Page 2

TUBERCULOUS MILK.

A SIMPLE CORE. SHOULB TUBERCULIN' TEST BE . ■ ENFORCED? Tho citizcns of Wellington who are earnestly endeavouring to savo tho children from' tuberculous milkhave overlooked one reriiedy, which, it is claimed, would removo the whole, evil by ono simple action. All that is needed,wo are told, is to preecribc that no milk may bo sold in Wellington from a cow that has not passed the .tuberculin test. 1 The tuberculin test, it is claimed, is decisive; it is simple in its application; it does- no harm to nonlthy cows; but it is unerring' in proclaiming thoso which are tuberculous. Having discovered what cows arc diseased, it would bo but a. step' to their destruction. The milk from the remainder, runs tho contention, would be abova suspicion so far as tuberculosis is concerned. ' Dr. Mason recently told tho writer that- a certificate that, a cow had passed the tuberculin 1 test would bo quite satisfactory to him, bccauso the test is so reliablo. . ..

" At the present time the Government spends an onormous amount of money annually in compensation for 'animals condemned at the Slaughter-houses for tuberculosis, but hitherto no attempt has been made to, sweep away the prolific sources of infection'. -Authorities in possession of good, information on tho Subject declare that tho proportionof tuborculous cows iii New, Zealand is appalling '—so appalling that the authorities are afraid to let- the state of affairs be publicly known. Meanwhile, the infants aro dying a premature death. . As matters go now, no consciendairy farmer dares to buy a strange 'caw in'open market for fear of adding contagion to bis'herd; and no citizen feels it safo to drink milk without boiling it: ; Yet tho means of • placing . the milk absolutely, above suspicion; and'removing"tho most prolific source'of - infection among cattle are still not put into systematic operation. - TuDorculin is & tosin produced by the germs of tuborculosis. It is extracted from a disoased cow by certain methods, and 1 the germs themselves are carefully eliminated. Tho resulting- toxin is then injected beneath tho skin of tho cow, to bo tested by a mere pm prick/ If tho cow bo healthy, : tho tonin will have no effect upon her, and her milkyield .will not ,be ' reduced; But if she be tuberculous,.an increase of her temperature will occur/ This " reaction" is tli'o sign that decides tho whole • point. Throughout the world the post-mortem examinations of animals that have reacted havo, with scarcely any cxcoptioii, disclosed tuberculous lesions in the body. If it . were- mado : a .regulation that no milk could bo sold in Wellington from cows that ,had not stood tho tuberculin tost, it would : then become necessary for dairy farmers to ask tho Veterinary Department to r apply, tho' test upon their herds. Animals that reacted would have" to- bo slaughtered, and compensation paid. It would bo an expensive matter .to the Government, but tlie sums annunjly paid for animals condemned at tho slaughter-houses would bo consequently lessoned. And babies' lives would; bo saved.

Sometimes 'farmers voluntarily have * fclio wholo of their herds tested. :Wo know of,a New Zealand '• farmer, who had tho test applied to', his herd of eighty cows, ; and twentyfiye of tliem—more'than a quarter—wore found to ho tuberculous. ■' Even this-propor-tion is much , lower than tho proportion discovered'in some other countries. With tho exception of the.. assistance afforded by instances of this kind, one has to' guess at the oxtent of the-infection, for, it is an extraordinary fact that do .step appears to liayo.been ever J.takeA'i iri"|;NeW';; l sdM4iid l '. l i 6 ~f iftd''v ' ,'but oxactly.'how. many of the cows whose hulk!we; .drink are lit for tho uses for which tlioy are ke])t.. Dairy ifarmers, who have an-eyo' : to tho , futuco, -would,' no \ doubt, willingly: cooperate ..with .any movement- for,. ! a. general test, ' Tuberculous, cows. are: not necessarily emaciated; Cows that were fat and apparently healthy,,liavo been found diseased,/,so that'it is -not sufficient to Wait till cows aro so ill that they cannot be pushed a'feWj yards along a road without gasping for. breath.