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Bovine Tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis in man may be due either to the human or the
bovine type of bacillus. It is possible to-day for bacteriologists to
differentiate with a small margin of error between the human and
bovine type of bacillus, with the result that the old-established idea
that pulmonary tuberculosis in man is almost invariably due to the
human type of tubercle bacillus has had to be modified. Roughly
1 per cent, of the respiratory and 23 per cent, of the non-respiratory
deaths from tuberculosis in each year are now held to be bovine in
origin.
This does not take into account the large amount of ill-health
resulting from tuberculous infections, bovine in origin, which do not
end in death.
It is a well-known fact that the agent of transmission of the
tubercle bacillus from cow to man is most frequently the raw milk
from a cow suffering from tuberculosis of the udder, or cream made
from such milk.
These deaths and needless human suffering arising from the
consumption of such milk could and should be prevented. It
is surely not too much to ask that all milk sold to-day should either
be efficiently pasteurised before sale or obtained from cows free
from tuberculosis.
REPORT OF THE TUBERCULOSIS MEDICAL OFFICER
FOR THE YEAR 1933.
The Current List of Notifications of Tuberculosis in Camberwell
as at December 31st, 1933.
On December 31st, 1933, there were 2,135 cases of tuberculosis
on the current list in Camberwell. There were 1,562 cases of
pulmonary tuberculosis—B9B males and 664 females; 573 cases of
non-pulmonary tuberculosis—3l2 males and 261 females.
Table I. supplies an analysis under age periods, sex, and the
broad grouping of pulmonary and non-pulmonary forms.