ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X 495 



type of tubercle bacilli have been found in infants and children. 

 Some of these were fatal, though not all of them. Several cases 

 of direct, accidental inoculation from cattle to man, have been 

 reported. 



Some authorities hold that not more than 1 per cent of the cases 

 reported will show bovine bacilli, and that in individuals more 

 than twelve years of age they will be found only very rarely. 

 These facts, however, by no means minimize the importance of 

 protecting children using cows' milk from the dangers which lurk 

 in this almost indispensable liquid food. Children are the prin- 

 cipal users of milk as a drink, and the fact that they are chiefly 

 susceptible to the bovine type of tuberculosis, enhances the serious- 

 ness of the problem which confronts us. According to a recent 

 report of the Secretary of Agriculture at Washington, D. C, the 

 proportion of tuberculous cows among those tested which sup- 

 plied milk to cities, was about 13 per cent. This signifies that 

 the use of unsterilized milk by children involves a considerable 

 risk of taking into the digestive tract the bacilli of tuberculosis, 

 with the liability to infection. 



In one of the larger cities of Iowa a philanthropic association 

 undertook to pursue a plan for the investigation of the extent of 

 tuberculosis among children. Up to a certain stage in the cam- 

 paign, at which time a report was made, six out of every ten 

 examined were found to have incipient symptoms, while others 

 had the disease in a progressive form. Open air sanitariums were 

 established and encouraging results followed. 



The fact that the evidences of tuberculosis that may exist in 

 milk or meats cannot be detected save by those who have special 

 qualifications, places the consumer in a peculiarly helpless position, 

 and emphasizes the importance of having cattle tested by capable 

 and trained men, competent to ascertain whether or not infection 

 is present. The cost of the tuberculin test is by no means pro- 

 hibitive, and while considerable loss is involved in the condemna- 

 tion of diseased stock and the sacrifice of the animals thus affected, 

 yet it is economy in the end. No one fully realizing the risk he is 

 taking by retaining tuberculous cattle, save those with mild forms 

 of the disease and those under rigid care and isolation, will hesi- 

 tate about taking necessary steps to protect himself and the public 

 that may be exposed to infection through the purchase of milk 

 or meat from his stock. 



