DAIRY MEETING. 7g 



BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS. 



By Dr. F. L. Russell, Orono. 



Bovine tuberculosis is a fact and not a theory. It is no new 

 statement that it is the most serious disease that the dairyman 

 in the State of Maine has to contend with. The conditions that 

 make it such are not new. Tuberculosis has been known and 

 has prevailed for a long time, and if there is any consolation 

 in the assurance that our neighbors are as badly off as we are, 

 we have plenty of that kind of consolation. Tuberculosis is 

 not confined to the dairy herds in the State of Maine : it is not 

 confined to the dairy herds in any state or in any part of the 

 globe. It is common among cattle the world over, with some 

 slight and unimportant exceptions. No climate protects, no 

 breed is exempt. No conditions under which we may keep 

 the animals protect them from this disease provided they are 

 exposed to it. There are conditions that favor the develoome'tt 

 of the disease. The owner of the cattle has very much to do 

 with the health of the animals, but if animals are exposed they 

 are liable to this disease. 



THE NATURE OF THE DISEASE. 



H'ow do we recognize it when we see it? Unfortunately, it is 

 not an easy matter. Many times we have it and do not know 

 it. That has been a very common experience. During the life 

 of the animal there may be no indications of disease, and the 

 animal may still be a menace to the health of others and to 

 human beings. It is a disease caused by the tubercle bacillus, 

 and it is characterized by tubercles or nodules that may be pres- 

 ent in any part of the body. We have other diseases in which 

 there are tubercles, but this disease is caused by the tubercle 

 bacillus, and these tubercles may be found in anv part of the 

 body. They present a somewhat characteristic appearance, but 

 their appearance varies at different times. The newly formed 

 tubercles are small, hardly to be discovered, dark colored, filled 

 with blood and constantly undergoing changes. A little later 

 these same tubercles are larger and have a center that is vellow. 



