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62 Medical Officers of Health Annual Report.
Phthisis and
other Tubercular
Diseases.
I regret to record an increase in these diseases
especially as there had been a progressive
decrease during the last ten years. The
valence of these diseases in one way are a test of the
sanitary conditions of a locality. Fresh air, dry soil,
sufficient cubic space and clean rooms are the conditions
which prove inimical to the extension of Tubercular
Diseases, especially Phthisis, which is thus practically
within our own control.
The food supply of the people is also a recognised
factor in the spread of Tubercle, and this especially
applies to milk. A wide-spread effort is now being made
throughout the country to stamp out the disease as far as
may be, especially in so far as it is produced by the milk
supply of children. It is admitted that not unfrequently,
cows suffering from Tubercular Disease of the udders are
used as milch cows, and the milk from such cows swarms
with Tubercular Bacilli. Parliamentary powers are
being asked to make it a penal offence to supply milk from
this source, and there is a probability that such powers
will be obtained.
We propose having a Bacteriological Examination
made of samples of milk taken in this district in order to
give us an idea as to what extent the milk supply is contaminated
with the Tubercular Bacillus.
Non-Zymotic Diseases were the cause of 200 deaths.