THE 



JOURNAL OF MALACOLOGY. 



No. I. MARCH 30th, 1S95. \'ol. IV. 



OYSTERS AS DISSEMINATORS OF DISEASE. 



JOHN C. THRESH, D.Sc. M.B , D.P.H., etc. 

 Editor of the Journal of State Medieine. 



The origin of the ' Oyster scare " which is so seriousl}- affecting 

 one of our great national industries, that of Oyster culture, 

 appears to be known to few outside the medical profession, and 

 many erroneous opinions are held with reference to the manner 

 in which the Oysters cause Typhoid Fever. The two diseases 

 wliich Oj-sters are believed to have helped to disseminate are 

 Cholera and Typhoid Fever, both of which are now well known 

 to be due to the entrance into the human system of certain 

 organisms— Bacilli — peculiar to these diseases. Cholera cannot 

 arise without the Cholera Bacillus, nor Typhoid Fever without 

 the Typhoid Bacillus. It follows, therefore, that no article of 

 food, including oysters, can cause either of these diseases unless 

 the living bacilli are precent. Such being the case, it is nonsense 

 to talk about dead or stale oysters, or decaying food being the 

 cause of either Typhoid Fever or Cholera. The freshest food, 

 the freshest oysters, if contaminated with the specific bacilli, will 

 cause one or other of these diseases, if partaken of by a 

 susceptible person. 



Oysters were first seriously suspected of causing Cholera, 

 during 1S93 when the disease was introduced several times into 

 our ports. Shortly- after this introduction, a number of cases of 

 Cholera occurred in certain inland towns, which at the time 

 could not be accounted for. At length, however, suspicion 

 rested upon the Oysters which came from one of the ports and 



