MILK SICKNESS. 
By George W. McCoy, 
Passed Assistant Surgeon, Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service. 
Definition . — Milk sickness is an acute, nonfebrile disease, probably 
of a specific nature due to the ingestion of milk, milk products, or 
the flesh of animals (usually cattle) suffering from a disease known 
as trembles. The disease in man is characterized by great depres- 
sion, persistent vomiting, obstinate constipation, and high mortality. 
Synonyms . — Endemic sick stomach, sloes or slows, milk sick, sick 
stomach, colica tremeptia, puking complaint, paralysis intestinalis, 
mukosma, syro. 
Historical . — Milk sickness was first noted and its association with 
trembles in cattle first defined about the beginning of the last century. 
The earliest professional account appears to have been published by 
Drake in 1809, and was based upon the observations of Dr. Thomas 
Barbee. Since that time the disease has become an important part 
of the medical history of our middle west. 
In some localities the disease was so prevalent and fatal that whole 
communities migrated from “ milk-sick ” sections to parts where the 
disease did not occur. 
Almost every community in some parts of the country has a tra- 
dition about outbreaks of this disease in the earlier years of the past 
century. We are told by Colonel Henry Watterson (1909) that Nancy 
Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, died from the disease in 1818 
after an illness of a week. In the words of Colonel Watterson, “ The 
dread milk sickness stalked abroad, smiting equally human beings 
and cattle.” 
With the advance of civilization, as forests were cleared and pas- 
tures fenced, the disease became less frequent; by the time of the 
civil war the disease was by no means common. At the present time 
it is one of the rarest of diseases. Trembles in animals is now almost 
as rare as “ milk sickness ” in man. According to Jordan and Har- 
ris (1908) an active focus of the disease exists in the valley of the 
Pecos River in New Mexico, where the disorder among animals has 
generally been attributed to “ alkali poisoning.” An outbreak oc- 
curred in Macon County, Tenn., in April and May, 1907. Small epi- 
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