INCREASE PREVALENCE OF ANTHRAX. (Field, April 8.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2675, 21 June 1905, Page 7

INCREASE PREVALENCE OF ANTHRAX. (Field, April 8.)

Although the dread disease of anthrax htW fcaroely yet become a real terror ill the land, it is to be noted with some amount of alarm that it has been constantly on the increase for a good many years back. The number of victims, human and animal, which the disease claims in the course of a year is not very large, yet a study of the official reports for the. past half-dozen years or more is calculated tc awaken uneasy curiosity as to what may happen if the- .malady is allowed to maintain its aggressive attitude. The prevalence of few diseases can be regarded with absolute complacency or indifference, but in the case of none is invasion to be more dreaded than that of the inevitably fatal anthrax, which is just as ready tc claim human victims as others. The reason for the steady increase of t.he disease cannot easily be discovered. The authorities are far from being unmindful of its presence and deadly nature, but despite all their exacting efforts at detection and suppression, the scourge continues to make steady headway without geographical limitations. There seems ro be some difference of opinion in Ligh quarters as to the source of the increasing attacks. Some hold that the disease germs are imported from abroad with 1 ides, feeding stuffs, and manures, and . thence gain access into the interior of the country, while others again contend that the very consistency of the increase is proof of tho untenable natuTe of this sti.gg&stion. It must be admitted that the almost complete absence of fitful or ■epidemic outbreaks is indicative cf local infestation, in othef words, that the disease is contracted locally from some hidden source of infection. This is in some respects the most disquieting aspect of the problem. If it were definitely ascertained thai the recurring outbreaks were attributable to imported infection it would be a comparatively simple matter to check the disease at the ports ; but, on the other hand, if the fatal germs exist in the country, the eradication of the disease can only be regarded as a vory formidable and expensive undertaking. While the official statistics show a steady pud considerable increase in the nutafcoi of outbreaks, it is conceivable that these figures sonnewihafc exaggerate the actual progress made by the malady. Just as more minute and thorough diagnosis has led to the- prevalent belief that cancer is more common in the human race to-daj than it was in former generations, so may the same explanation account in large measure for the similar ide.i concerning anthrax in catilo. Therw ie 10 doubt that the cause of death in livi> stock as well as in human beings, is more closely and skilfuliy inquired intc nowadays than was customary a generation ago. Before the veterinary profession was us efficient as ii is to-day, an.l vihile competent practitioners in rural districts were few and far between, animals died without much notice having bepu taken of the. Incident apart from the less which it entailed to the owner. The local farrier, or imagined expert in these matters, would reiadily enough supply an opinion as to the cawe of death, but possibly the majority of them knew as little about t anthrax as they did of the still undiscovered appendicitis, and, accordingly, statistics dating back over many years are not an absolutely reliable indication as to the proeross and the spread of the di«pa*e. But if we take the figures for only the past fr-w yoars, il is doubtful if the apparent increase can bo assigned" c-ntir-ely. or m any appreciable degree, to mor-5 efficient diagnosis. The disease has been perfectly well known for many years, and mu«t be familiar to all graduated members of the various veterinary col- - legf?, *v that for the pnst 10 years at, least we fear 'hat the growing totals of anthrax rases have a more real and alarming foundation than can be found in the suggest "^n of more accurate diagnosis. Ifc would be no simple matter to tackle so subtle and deadly a disease as anthrax 1 , and, no doubt, considerable s-acrinc^s and ii.convcinienoo would bp incurred in the cariyiiiar out of any scheme de«isrncd with, thta object, yet it will be admitted thai; the aim in vi-ew is *o eminjnfclv desirable* as to induce stock owners and the general vublio to render every assistance to iba

- authorities should they deem it expedient to embark in. earnebt fashion upon the j> rojeefc.