2loS MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



TUBERCULOSIS OF THE DAIRY COW. 

 (By Dr. Sesco Stewart, Kansas City Veterinary College J 



A few years ago Dr. Edward Rush, of New York, became interested 

 in the study of tuberculosis and after patient investigation as to the extent 

 and prevalence of this disease he found that in every country' where tu- 

 berculosis prevailed among the people it was also prevalent among the 

 cattle used for dair}- purposes. He found also that where milk and 

 butter were not used as a food, the people were not afflicted with tuber- 

 culosis. Of the cattle slaughtered in Prussia a recent report shows that 

 14.6 per cent were tuberculous ; in Saxony the percentage found was 29.3 ; 

 in Belgium 20,850 cattle were tested in i8g6 and 48.88 per cent were 

 found to be afiflicted wnth this disease. An eminent authority in England 

 estimates that 30 per cent of the cows of that country- are tuberculous. In 

 the New England states the percentage of tuberculous cows is probably 

 not nearly so great, yet the number is relatively large. Under the direc- 

 tion of the cattle commission of Massachusetts, over 24,000 dairy cows 

 were tested, 50 per cent of which were found to be tuberculous. These 

 cattle were in the worst infected counties. The dairies maintained by 

 several of the states, at the agricultural college farms, hospitals for the 

 insane and other state institutions, have been tested and in almost every 

 instance an alarming percentage of tuberculous cows have been found. 



Of the cows shipped from the territory west of the Missouri river 

 to Omaha, St. Joseph and Kansas City for slaughter, many are found to 

 be diseased with tuberculosis, hence it is fair to believe that the dairies 

 of Missouri are not free from this malady. A consideration of this sub- 

 ject at the present time may be helpful in drawing particular attention 

 to the nature and characteristics of this disease and lead to the prevention 

 of its extensive development throughout the dairy districts of this State. 



Tuberculosis as a disease is not confined to cattle but prevails among 

 all animals, domesticated or wild. Even fowls and fishes contract the 

 disease. 



An animal body is composed of cells or unit elements arranged in 

 groups and tissues, and these into masses or organs, such as mucous 

 membrane, lungs, liver, muscles, bones and skin. The cells of w'hidi 

 flesh and bone are made up are cemented together into tissues and organs, 

 and in channels formed everywhere through these tissues and organs 

 in which flow streams of fluid that contain large numbers of loose cells. 

 These loose cells under certain conditions can wedge their way between 

 the fixed tissue cells. 



