BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS. 



To attack tuberculosis as it exists at present is undoubtedly a most 

 difificult problem, and the conditions which tend to repress or to aug- 

 ment its further dissemination are very complex. No single measure, 

 however sweeping, is likely to be successful. A number of details will 

 have to receive careful attention, and in the end the success will 

 depend largely upon the intelligent watchfulness constantly exercised 

 in various directions by the stock owner. The wide dissemination and 

 the localized intensity of this disease, especially in herds devoted to 

 breeding purposes, will require, above all, concerted action in attempts 

 for its reppression. 



Though a strictly bacterial disease and introduced into the body only 

 by the tubercle bacillus, which is always derived from some pre-exist- 

 ing case of disease, tuberculosis differs, nevertheless, from most ani- 

 mal diseases in very important particulars. Its unknown beginnings in 

 the body and its insidious march after it has once gained a foothold are 

 responsible for the existence of a large number of tuberculosis animals 

 in all stages of the disease. In the earlier stages, while the disease is 

 still restricted to a single focus, the animal is to all outward appear- 

 ances in perfect health. It is only after the infection has invaded 

 several cavities of the body or produced mechanical obstructions that 

 it becomes manifest. Hence it is difficult for the ordinary stock 

 owner to diagnose and recognize the disease. 



The tuberculin test is used by veterinarians but it requires the 

 ability of an expert to determine the result. Hence the stockman 

 should never rely on his own ability. 



The stock owner should carefully and promptly remove from his herd 

 and have examined by competent authority: 



(i) All animals which show emaciation, with coughing, and aa/ 

 suspicious discharges from the nose. 



