Bureau of Ageicultuke. 337 



and human tuberculosis is so close that the control of the 

 disease in either the human or the bovine materially 

 decreases the prevalence in the other. It has been con- 

 clusively proven that the disease m,ay be transmitted 

 from the animal to man and from man to animal. 

 It has been shown that where an attendant of a dairy 

 was suffering from tuberculosis the disease spread to the 

 cows themselves. It has also been shown that attend- 

 ants free from tuberculosis have contracted the disease 

 from their constant association with tubercular cows. 

 Tuberculosis seldom ever assumes an acute form, ex- 

 cept in the very advanced stages of the disease after the 

 animal has been suffering for a considerable length of 

 time. Records of the prevalence of tuberculosis in herds 

 in a great many states prove that the disease is increas- 

 ing, due principally to the fact that the public will not 

 co-operate with the sanitary authorities in its control. 

 One or two states in the Union have made considerable 

 progress in the eradication of this disease. The live 

 stock sanitary officials co-operating with the city, county 

 and state boards of health have educated the public in 

 the necessity of eradicating tuberculosis, not only for 

 the benefit of the live stock industry, but for the safety 

 of the human family, particularly children whose prin- 

 cipal diet is cows' milk. Tuberculosis in the milk cow 

 is very much more dangerous than in the purely beef 

 animal, as the tubercular bacillus seldom lodges in the 

 muscle, but is very frequently found in the milk. The 

 diet of children, particularly those under four years of 

 age, is composed chiefly of cows' milk, and this milk is 

 ■''ed to them raw, while what meat is eaten has been sub- 

 jected to high temperatures while cooking. The natural 

 resistance of the child is greatly less than that of the 

 adult, which accounts for the increased mortality in chil- 

 dren over that of the adult. It is safe to look upon the 

 dairies, that contain pure bred cattle that have not been 

 tuberculin tested, with suspicion, as cattle of this class 

 have been great scatterers of tuberculosis, caused no 

 doubt by the methods employed in their care and atten- 

 tion, while the scrub or grade is allowed more freedom 

 and spends more time in the open. 



