Diseased Cattle.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 6028, 19 December 1890, Page 2

Diseased Cattle.

[TO THE B-HTOE.]

, Sic,—l have lately? when inspecting the cattle belonging to in this district, frequently,been asked how H was possible diseaseJOouldbe transmitted thrbVirK' the milk from the obw to tha" human being. As this subject is now "causing, a deal of interest and Iresearch amongst the leading medical men, I propose to give the opinions 6f some of the best authorities on the sub- 1 jeot. In an artiole in the Nihe'teenth f Century for last October on ''tub'eroulbua*' Meat and its Consequences;" by D& Henry*' Behrend, he writes :—" The Importance of the enquiry centres in the question of the transmissibility Of taberoulosig, Secans-' J not only is this tho most frequent' morbific condition in cattle, Wad the most destructive to human - life- being accountable for nearly half thedeaths between the marriageable ages of fifteen to thirty five years in Great Britain, and of one-fifth of tho entire mortality, but also because Koch's brilliant discovery of the bacillus* has set at rest all doubt as to the'cause "of the malady* and as to tho question of its« identity in man and the lower animals." f Ha then continues:--" The links in that ohaiu of scientific evidence, based upon experiments conducted through a series of years, may be thus formulated—(l) tuber- . ouloeis is caused by a minute vegetable organism, the bacillus; (2) this .organism is identical in man ;and the lower animals, any slight apparent difference being puroly morphological; (3) the disease is communicatable from cattle to the human subject ; (4) one of the most frequent methods of this communicatability is the ingestion of the flesh of animals specifically affected;. and (5) the ordinary modes of" cooking do; not destroy the bacillus, and ha'veactually - no effect upon the spores which are the chief "* means of its propagation." : ' (-•','

The Blue bo»k issued by the Depart-' mental Committee of the Privy Council in 188$ states:—. " Numerous experiments havo been performed upon the possibility of the tubercular virus entering the body through tho alimentary canal. In these experiments tubercular secretions, i.e. mitnw saliva, milk, etc., portions of tubercles from, diseased tissues of cultures of the baoilli,. have been swallowed by various with tho effect that the "disease has fatally followed the injection of such infectiro material." The official report of the Pathologists to thn Health Department of the city of New York in 1889 states that tuberculosis is a strictly preventibia.disease, and may be induced, and is indeed transmitted, by the milk and flesh of tuberculosis cattle. One of the obvious moans of .prevention, therefore, is the avoidance of such article* of food, andi those measures 'of prevention -alone answer the requirements which ombrace the Governmental inspection. of dairy cows and animals slaughtered for food, and the rigid cxcluiion and destruction of all those found to be tuberculous. "• . From the Auckland Weekly News I have taken the following dipping from an article ! upon V Milk as a Vehiole of Disease." I read before tho Auckland Institute on October 27th, 1890, by Ernest Robertson, M.D. :— ■ " The subject of tuberculosis demands much more attention. Perhaps I ought in thafirst , place to state for the benefit of some what , J is meant by tuberculosis It is the «oientifk» '.,■'. name for what is moro generally known a. consumption, that ft.ll disease the cause:of which has until quito reoently been so imperfectly known, and tho ravages of whioh have until quite recently been so inaperfeotly... known, and tho ravages of which have ion .. ages been so vast among civilised peoples, F seeking its victims too especially among thoso who should he enteriug on their life's > work in all their vigour. It is estimated , that from 10 to 14 per oent. of all deaths are due to tuberculosis. In Britain, 150,000 deaths are annually registered as due to it. Iv Paris, about 20 per cent, of all deaths* result from it. In Vienna, 15 per oent of all deaths, but in some quarters of thetown no less than 90 per cent. Irt New Zealand, during 1888, tho death;--rate from tuhorcular disease was rather" more than 11 per oent. To sum up our knowledge of tha influence of the milk supply io causing tuberculosis in man, wo may say thai it is proved that tuberculosis. - in man and in oattle aro the samo diseasedue to the bacillus tuberculosis ; that the milk from a tubercular, cow, especially if :'• the udder is affected, ia liable to oontair. the germ of tuberculosis ; that the use of food containing this germ haa boen proved ' a means of infection, and that therefore tho".t„ nse of milk from tubercular'cows' is attended by serious danger. There is good ■ reason for believing that the use of such milk is responsihlefor somo of the tuberculosis in man, especially of its manifestations ' in children." These statements of well ascertained facts should Cause paronts to take every precaution to obtain the milk used by the family only from dairies where ' they aro sure the cows lira all in a healthy condition, for this disease exists in NowZealand as well as every other part of theworld. Mi J. F. McLean, M.R.C.V.S., in a report mado to tho Minister of Lands on theoxiatonce of tuberculosis in oattle states that he had visited four dairies in the immediate vicinity of Wellington, milking about 280 cows, fcur of which showed marked symptoms of tuberculosis, and that on the West Coast he killed cattle in an advancoii stage of the disease. In Hawke's Bay I ha'.o seen several oattle unmistakably suffering from tho disease. I believe very few dairymen would willingly sell milk from a diseased eo-.v, kuowiug wbat might bethe consequences to the oonstvmers, and it is tho want of knowledge of; the: disease and its symptoms that cau(j_ s .them to, do bo. . In, describing its caiinot do better than quote from Mr G. Fleming, Veterinary frtaftit.ry.Scien'ce. Ho states .x-" The-jn-UiJiousness of the malady at its commencement renders its primary phenomena. I obscure and inappreciable, aud it may havo been in existauee for months beforo the earliest external manifestation can be fixed upon. The first .porooptible signs arei. general dullness and indifrerenoo, and 1 activity and energy. , There is heigh», C n ei j -en.ibility in the skin, especially thpJc of tho withers, back, and loins, where, if taucshed i tho animal shrinks iv a very marked manner! Iv tho second stage there is evident emacia- | tion, and tho animals are heavy, apathetic and sluggish in their movwiionts, while tho countenanoo is without animation, anddull, aud the eyes aro retracted, in their orbits. The skin is harsh and dry, nnd adhereclosely to the ribs; the hair covering it is lustreless and staring, and frequently damp. Trifling exertion produces abundant perspiration and labored respiration, aud so much lassitude and distress that tho animal . seeks to relieve itself by carrying the head close to tho ground, while tho attitude of ! the limbs betray the.debility from which it buffers. Not unfrequently constipation is alternated with diarrhcßa. The milk is diminished in quantity and quality, being blue colored and watery. The cough is easily induoed by pressure on the trachea, and occurs spontaneously lit short intervals." . '•:■ These are a few of the most easy signs by which to detect the disease;/ but like most f other diseases, it requires an expert and one r accustomed to watch for and hWo to read those signs to be able to detect them in, their early stage.—l am, &c., A_,_\ T. Danvbes-