ANIMAL PRODUCTS 



2T1 



with tetanus the meat does not produce 

 infection when eaten. 



Wounds — The meat from cases of seri- 

 ous wounds or putrid intoxication may 

 or may not be dangerous according to 

 the extent of the disease. All cases of 

 general pyemia or septicaemia (blood 

 poisoning) are extremely dangerous. 

 In fact, no other disease is of such im- 

 portance in meat inspection as septicae- 

 mia, tuberculosis not excepted. The 

 most important septic diseases are calf 

 lameness, hemorrhagic enteritis of calves, 

 septic intestinal and mammary diseases 

 of cattle and petechial fever. So far as 

 the meat is concerned, septicaemia is by 

 far the most dangerous of all animal dis- 

 eases. This matter is referred to below 

 under meat poisoning. 



Parasites transmitted in meat — The 

 most important animal parasites which 

 may be transmitted to man in meat are 

 trichina, tapeworms, echinococcus and 

 pentastomum. Beef measles is due to 

 the presence of the beef measle worm in 

 the muscles. This Worm varies in size 

 from a pin-head to a pea and is found 

 chiefly in the muscles of mastication, 

 but also in the heart, tongue and muscles 

 of the neck and chest. The beef measle 

 worm is the immature stage of a tape- 

 worm, Taenia saginata. The tapeworm 

 develops from the measle worm when the 

 latter is set free by the digestion of the 

 beef in the human intestines. Beef 

 measle worms are killed by thoroughly 

 boiling the meat, by pickling the. meat 

 in strong brine for 14 days or by keep- 

 ing the meat in cold storage for three 

 weeks. Rendered lard from measly cat- 

 tle is perfectly safe for use. 



The hog measle worm is likewise the 

 immature or larval stnge of another 

 tapeworm of man, Taenia solium. This 

 tapeworm is exceedingly rare as com- 

 pared with Taenia saginata and the hog 

 measle worm is correspondingly rar°. 

 The hog measle worm is found chiefly 

 in the abdominal muscles, diaphragm, 

 tongue, heart, and muscles of mastica- 

 tion. This larval worm not only de- 

 velops into a tapeworm in the intestines 

 but may also infest man in the larval or 

 cysticercus stage, causing disease and 

 death. The cysticercus is found in man 

 in the brain, muscles, heart and eyes. 

 In Germany, its occurrence in man ha3 

 been greatly reduced by means of meat 

 inspection. The hog measle worm, like 

 the beef measle worm, is killed by boil- 

 ing or pickling and is, therefore, only in 



raw pork. Measly pork cannot be ren- 

 dered harmless by preservation in cold 

 storage. 



The trichina is a minute, parasitic 

 round worm about 0.04 of an inch in 

 length. It occurs in two forms, muscle 

 and intestinal trichinae. The muscle 

 trichinae occur in pork and may infest 

 man through raw pork, causing disease 

 and death in 10 to 40 per cent of cases. 

 The trichina occurs in the hog, dog, cat, 

 bear, fox, badger, martin and rat. The 

 hog becomes infested by eating rats, and 

 man by eating pork. The frequency of 

 infestation in hogs varies greatly but 

 averages perhaps 1 to 3 per cent. Natu- 

 rally outbreaks of trichinosis in man 

 occur most frequently where the most 

 raw pork is eaten. The symptoms are 

 sometimes mistaken for those of typhoid 

 fever. Children are less seriously af- 

 fected than adults. Neither refrigera- 

 tion nor decomposition of the meat has 

 any effect on trichinae. They are read- 

 ily killed by cooking the meat or by salt 

 pickling it for four weeks. There is no 

 danger fron trichina in well cooked 

 pork. 



The echinococcus disease is the most 

 fatal of all parasitic diseases which af 

 feet man, 50 per cent dying within five 

 years after infestation. The adult of 

 this parasite is a tapeworm, Taenia echi- 

 nococcus, which lives in the intestines 

 of dogs and wolves. The dangerous, 

 bladder worm stage occurs in any organ 

 of the body, but chiefly in the liver and 

 lungs of cattle, sheep, swine and man. 

 In preventing this disease, dogs should 

 not be allowed in the house too much or 

 around slaughter houses, and should 

 frequently be treated for tapeworms. All 

 bladder worms found in slaughtered ani- 

 mals should be destroyed by heat in or- 

 der to prevent infestation of man and 

 dogs. Fortunately, the echinococcus dis- 

 ease is not common in the United States. 



Meat poisoning j s c ] ue to eating meal 

 which has from some cause become 

 spoiled. The spoiling may be due to 

 bacterial infection or to decomposition. 

 Meat poisoning is of very frequent oc- 

 currence. The symptoms include nau- 

 sea, vomiting, colicky pains, diarrhea, 

 chills, headache, vertigo, delirium, etc, 

 according to the severity of the case. 

 Recovery may take place in a few days 

 or not for months and a small percent- 

 age of cases is fatal. Large animals are 

 disemboweled as soon as slaughtered and 



