TUBERCULOSIS 



FACTS FOR FARMERS AND OTHERS ABOUT THIS 



DISEASE. 



Tuberculosis is a widespread disease affecting animals and also man. 



Human beings and cattle are its chief- victims, but there is no kind of 

 animal that will not take it. Hogs and chickens are quite often affected ; 

 horses, sheep and goats but seldom, while cattle are the most susceptible of all 

 animals. 



NATURE or THE DISEASE. 



Tuberculosis is contagious or " catching." It spreads from cow to cow in 

 a herd until mo?t of them are affected. This may not attract much notice 

 from the owner as the disease is slow to develop and a cow may be affected with 

 it for several months, and sometimes years, before any signs of ill health are 

 to be seen. 



This slow development is the chief reason for the great loss it causes to 

 the farmer. He does not suspect its presence in his herd until perhaps a large 

 number are diseased. If the disease developed rapidly and caused death in a 

 few days, the owner would soon take steps to check its progress and protect 

 the rest of his herd. Tuberculosis is slow and hidden in its course and thu? 

 arouses no suspicion until great damage is done. 



HISTORY. 



Where did tuberculosis come from ? AVe do not know. History records 

 it from the earliest times. 



Over a century ago, its contagious nature was suspected and many facts 

 were recorded to prove that it must be " catching." Doctors differed about 

 it, and for a long time the question was hotly disputed. Finally it was settled 

 by Dr. Kobert Koch, a distinguished German physician, who discovered the 

 germ of the disease in the year 1882, and named it Bacillus Tuberculosis. 

 He proved by experiment that the disease is produced by these germs and with- 

 out them the disease cannot be produced. It is now universally admitted that 

 tuberculosis is a contagious disease and may be transmitted from animal to 

 man. 



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