EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS 335 



upon with the dread that once accompanied the name. The bridle that has been 

 placed upon them is due largely to the strenuous efforts made to improve sanitation, 

 to a knowledge of their causes and to the practical lessons learned from a study of 

 their causes and applied to the advancement of sanitation and prophylactic meas- 

 ures. Although bridled, many years vpill be required before they will be absolutely 

 controlled; yet, even at the present tame, we feel practically sa'fe with safeguards 

 in stringent laws. 



What has been done in reducing contagious diseases in the human family can 

 be to a large extent repeated in the reduction of contagious diseases among animals. 

 In the case of tuberculosis or consumption among the domestic animals, it is 

 possible to so control the disease that it will not spread. This is accomplished by 

 methods similar to those used in staying a contagious disease belonging to man. 

 The individual is isolated and kept under quarantine until all danger is passed. A 

 domestic animal so treated would confine the disease to itself and not disseminate it 

 broadcast. Acknowledgment must be made, however, to our regret and shame, 

 that no effectual means is used either with man or animal to check the progress 

 of the dreaded white plague. The only plausible excuse that can be offered is that 

 it is not so rapid in running its course nor so apparently drastic in its mortality as 

 a contagious disease that rages a short time and is over. 



In the case of hog cholera, however, the owner of hogs has a disease which may be 

 in some respects likened to Asiatic cholera in man. Because of the fearful ravages 

 of Asiatic cholera in man and a knowledge of the causal agent, Asiatic cholera has 

 practically been controlled. In hog cholera or allied troubles, the causal agent is 

 known and the ravages are enormous, but the disease -is not checked. This must be 

 due to one of three reasons: First, an ignorance of prophylactic measures which 

 should be adopted under such circumstances; second, an unwillingness to carry 

 into effect prophylactic measures when known; third, an inability to prevent the 

 spreading of the disease whenever prophylactic measures have been made use of. 

 Of these three reasons there is evidence which indicates that the first and second 

 are usually at the foundation of the trouble, for if a man is ignoi'ant of the regula- 

 tions necessary to stop the progress of a contagious disease, he cannot be expected 

 to make any effort whatever in confining it. There are, it is true, circumstances 

 which are not under the control of the stock owner even when he exercises the 

 utmost precautions in attempting to keep a contagious disease from his herd. Cats, 

 dogs, flies, birds, all can carry the contagion, and these the owner of stock cannot 

 manage. 



Should anthrax enter a community in Michigan, it would probably cause more 

 or less consternation. Its ravages would incite great alarm because of the rapidity of 

 its course and the quickness with which it spi'eads from, animal to animal. It 

 does not limit itself to any single class of domestic animals, but may attack most of 

 them. When it has once gained a foot-hold it is almost impossible to eradicate it. 

 Its persistency lies in the endurance of the spore stage of the germ. Localities are 

 known where it has existed for hundreds of years. At one time it would take the 

 severe epidemic form and then subside for a period, only to rise again in its fury at 

 a later period. Under such conditions, cattle raising becomes precarious. This^ 

 disease, however, can be controlled and is conti-olled, but only when aggressive* 

 methods are adopted. In England, a very contagious disease, pleuro-pneumonia, 

 has been practically rooted out. This has been done entirely by the killing and 

 burning of every animal suspected of having the disease. In this country, glanders 

 is not as prevalent as it was once, simply because drastic measures were adopted 

 in stamping it out. In South Africa, where severe contagious diseases are very 

 common, it is not unusual for the government to place certain sections of the 

 country under an armed patrol whose business it is to confine the contagious 

 disease to the infected districts and to prevent its passing beyond. 



In the management of contagious diseases of man. it is customary to isolate the 

 individual and to shut off all communication between him and the outside world. 

 All food that goes to the individual is taken to the door and there left for the nurse 

 to take into the room. When the patient is through with the dishes, the nurse places 

 them in a pail containing boiling water, which has been left at the door for the 

 purpose. This treatment kills any of the germs adhering to the dishes. The water 

 in the pail may be cold when the dishes are put in and then heated to the boiling 

 point if desired. By this means all communication is shut off and the germs are 

 not allowed to spread beyond the immediate vicinity of the patient. The nurse stays 

 with his patient and is not allowed in any manner to communicate with the out- 

 side world. When the patient convalesces, his person undergoes a disinfection. 

 The nurse disinfects himself, and the room, with all of its contents, is thoroughly 



