TUBERCULOSIS. 115 



the amount of human tuberculosis, at least for adults, has 

 been undergoing a constant decline. The increase of bovine 

 tuberculosis and the decrease of human disease is not con- 

 sistent .with a belief that milk is a very great source of human 

 tuberculosis. 



The question in regard to the relation of milk to tuber- 

 culosis in children stands somewhat differently. It is begin- 

 ning to be recognized that this disease is the cause of quite 

 a considerable portion of the deaths of young children, and 

 there is no reliable statistical evidence which indicates that 

 the amount of tuberculosis in children is decreasing. Some 

 evidence seems to indicate that it is slightly on the increase, 

 although the matter is uncertain because of the difficulty of 

 diagnosing this disease in children. Moreover, it is claimed 

 that in childhood the amount of primary intestinal tuber- 

 culosis is quite large. These facts would apparently suggest 

 that milk, which is, of course, a very common food for chil- 

 dren, is the source of considerable tuberculosis during the 

 early years of life. 



As the result of all the evidence .which we have at present, 

 it seems that the tuberculosis bacillus in milk may be a 

 cause of tuberculosis in children, and the safest course is 

 to avoid the use of raw milk for young children, unless one 

 is absolutely sure that the source from which it is obtained 

 is reliable. For adults, however, this is probably not neces- 

 sary. While it is quite possible that milk is an occasional 

 source of tuberculosis for adults, evidence indicates that this 

 danger is small. The danger for adults is certainly not so 

 great as the danger of taking the disease from some other 

 source, especially through breathing, and if we are to look 

 upon milk as a source of tuberculosis in the adult at all, it 

 must be regarded as one of comparatively small importance. 

 There are some excellent authorities who insist that this is 

 also true in regard to children. 



