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REPORT OF COMMISSION

TO

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Tuberculosis in Cattle.

MADE TO STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE,
JANUARY 16th, 1895,

Acting under Law passed May 22d, 1894.

TRENTON, N. J.:
THE JOHN L,MURPHY PUBLISHING Co., PRINTERS,
1895,

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REPORT OF THE COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE
EXISTENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS, ACTING UNDER
LAW PASSED MAY 22, 1894.

First. As to the appointment of the Commission.

The President of the State Board, Hon. Edward Burrough,
appointed as members of the Commission Messrs. Isaac W. Nichol-
son, Camden county; Chas. Howell Cook, Somerset; H. V. M.
Dennis, Monmouth; Dr. Jos. B. Ward, Essex, and Dr. Wm. C.
Parry, Burlington, with the President and Secretary of the State
Board, who are made members of the Commission by the act.

The Commission were called together in the office of the State Board
of Agriculture, July 24th, and organized by electing Edward Bur-
rough, President; Chas. Howell Cook, Vice President and Treas-
urer; Franklin Dye, Secretary.

Second. The Commission first proceeded to outline a course of
action under the law within the limitations prescribed therein.

Under the rules adopted they decided to procure all available
information on the question of tuberculosis in animals and results of
the tests made to discover its existence, by the use of Koch’s lymph,
up to the present time. The Secretary was directed to open corre-
spondence with other similar Boards and Commissions, with Experi-
ment Stations and the United States Bureau of Animal Industry at
Washington, to secure all available reliable literature bearing on the
question. Some extracts from this literature will be published with
this report.

For the scientific work of the Commission, the State Biologist,
Prof. Julius Nelson, of the State Agricultural College, was employed,
and his report of analyses made, cattle examined, &c., will accompany
this report.

The Commission also decided to employ competent veterinarians in
different parts of the State, as occasion might require, to make physi-

4

cal examinations and assist in the autopsies of cattle condemned to be
slaughtered.

The Commission acknowledge the efficient aid of the State Dairy
Commissioner in co-operating with them in the work undertaken. A
number of herds were brought to the attention of the Commission,
at their request, by the State Dairy Commissioner, as follows :

1. Where sanitary and feeding conditions are positively bad.

2. Where sanitary and feeding conditions are good, but where close
inbreeding has been practiced on pure-bred animals.

3. Natives where natural conditions are observed both in reference
to feeding and shelter.

A number have since been added by the Commissioner and by the
State Board of Health, and some requests have come from farmers
and dairymen to have their herds examined and tested. Not all of
these applications have as yet received attention. Below we cite a
number of sample cases examined by the Commission and showing
the conditions which were found to exist.

The first herd subjected to the lymph test was that of the State
Hospital at Trenton, consisting of forty-eight cows and one bull.
Here the Commission secured the consent of the Managers of the
State Hospitals before doing anything. As this is a State institution,
this course was thought to be the best for obvious reasons. The herd
was chosen as a starting point, first, because it belonged to the State ;
second, because from all appearances it was a typically well-kept
herd. The management throughout was exceptionally good. The
buildings, according to recent demands, were all that could be desired,
the entire business being under the efficient superintendence of Col.
W. 4H. Earley. The herd was separated into three divisions for injec-
tion, so as not to interfere with the milk-supply any more than it was
possible to avoid. Of the total number (forty-nine) injected, twenty-
eight responded to the test by giving the required rise of temperature.
Of this number twenty-seven have been slaughtered. Of those
slaughtered all but one gave clear evidence of tuberculous trouble,
some of them in an aggravated form, others in a much less advanced
stage. Of this herd it should be said it was made up of grades of
most of the prevailing breeds, and a number of them over six years
old, many of which had been purchased from others. The next
herd examined, and believed to be tuberculous, was near Plainfield.

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5

The conditions surrounding this herd were not of the best. It con-
sisted of nineteen cows and one bull, the latter having actinomycosis
(or lump jaw) in an advanced stage. The whole herd was injected.
There were two responses. The bull and the balance of the herd
gave no response. Of those not responding one was slaughtered on
suspicion of being diseased, and the autopsy proved the judgment of
the veterinarians to be correct. The condition of all those slaugh-
tered in this herd was such as to justify the course pursued. Again,
in Morris county, six cows, greatly reduced in flesh owing to scanty
feeding, were believed by the local veterinarian to be tuberculous, as
one of the herd had died from the disease in the early spring. The
cows were injected, and gave no reaction suggestive of tuberculosis.
But they were slaughtered for the purpose of investigation. The
autopsies to the unaided eye gave no evidence of the disease.

Another herd of ten, chiefly Jerseys, near Linwood, was injected
at the request of the owner. ‘These cows were fairly well cared for
and fed. Not one gave a suspicious response to the lymph test.

Another herd of twenty-nine cows, near Lebanon, Hunterdon
county, was examined both at the request of the owner and of the
Dairy Commissioner. The investigations in this herd are not yet
completed.

Again, by request of the State Board of Health, ten cows in
Montclair were examined, the Montclair Board of Health fearing
that a child in the vicinity had contracted “tubercular meningitis”
from the use of the milk supplied by this dairy. The herd was
injected and one case only gave suspicious reaction. It was slaugh-
tered and the autopsy showed unmistakable evidence of tuberculosis.

Another herd of twelve cows, near Stoutsburg, was examined and
injected at the request of the owner. Work in this herd is not com-
pleted at this date.

A herd of about forty cows, near Morristown, was tested early last
spring by the owner, and some twenty-seven were condemned and
slaughtered, all of which were tuberculous in some degree. The
owner has since applied to this Commission to have his herd, num-
bering twenty-eight, re-tested. This was recently done and three
only gave the required reaction and they were slaughtered and all
were found to be tuberculous. The owner claims he had no trouble
from tuberculosis until it was introduced by purchased cows.

MILK AS FOOD.

We realize that milk is a complete human food, and nature’s most
perfect natural liquid food, and we therefore believe every reasonable
precaution should be taken in reference to its production, handling
and sale, so that no point shall be left unguarded that may jeopardize
its purity and healthfulness. To this end not only should the cow
be healthy, but she should be kept in healthful conditions, and those
who handle the milk should be scrupulously clean and careful. So
all milk receptacles and utensils should be frequently and thoroughly
cleansed. No milk, either by producer or consumer, should be left
exposed in an atmosphere vitiated by any contagious disease, as it is
a well-known fact that typhoid, scarlet fever and diphtheria have
been communicated by the absorbent qualities of the milk.

THE COMMISSION.

It is the judgment of the Commission that this method of super-
vision should be continued on the same careful and conservative lines
as now begun, obtaining all possible information and making careful,
legitimate experiments in order to protect our State from assaults of
radical measures affecting our dairies and dairy products.

POWERS INCREASED.

In this connection we suggest that the powers for dairy inspection
be largely increased, so that stated physical examinations of all herds
supplying our towns and cities with milk shall be made by competent
veterinarians, and all cattle found to be diseased shall be slaughtered,
particularly such as are found to have diseased udders. Such periodi-
cal investigations should also cover the sanitary arrangements of
stables, character of food and other matters of importance connected
with the healthfulness of both the cows and their products. On this
point the late Dr. Ezra M. Hunt said in his report to this Board,
page 236, 1893-94: “In regard to milk there is also much differ-
ence of opinion as to the risk unless the udder of the cow has become
affected. There is, however, a growing belief that no cow affected

See

7

with tuberculosis in any form should be in a dairy, and that people
should, by proper inspection, be assured of safety from any risk in
the use of milk.” :

CERTIFICATES OF EXAMINATION.

In connection with such examination, a certificate, stating that
such herd has been subjected to the required legal examination,
should be furnished the owner, both for his protection and for the
satisfaction of the consumers of milk.

This inspection is also of the greatest importance from the pro-
ducers’ standpoint. It must be remembered that the existence of the
disease in a member of the herd may, it is claimed, sooner or later
inoculate the whole number. The immediate removal of such animals,
while a temporary loss, will surely result in a gain in the end,
compensation being made, as now, by the State.

As to the existence of the tubercle bacilli in milk in every case of
tuberculous cows, the investigations on this point by scientists are not
conclusive, but enough is demonstrated to show there is danger from
using milk of cows having diseased udders. That there are numerous
other sources, however, by which this disease may be communicated
to the human family is admitted by all who have carefully investi-
gated the general question, and the part such possible contributing
agents may play as to the origin of any given case of human tuber-
culosis should be most carefully investigated, especially when there is
reasonable ground for suspicion. The cow should not be charged
with the sins of others—enough that she be condemned for her own.
Another matter which should not be overlooked is the probable com-
munication of the disease to the bovine from the human. We believe
no consumptive person, with the disease advanced, should have charge
of dairy cows or take part in the handling of milk that is for others’
use. If, as asserted by science, this death-dealing germ is expecto-
rated by persons as well as animals, there is cause for more care
against possible spread of the disease, which Dr. D. E. Salmon says
is “the most widespread and destructive plague that affects man or

domesticated animals.”

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS.

The scientific, microscopic and biological investigations of animals.
slaughtered by this Commission are being made, as previously stated,
by Prof. Julius Nelson, the Biologist of our State Experiment
Station. Such investigations are necessarily slow and tedious. When
these are completed they will be published with this report. Whether
they will add anything new to the investigations already made by
him and so many others on the scientific side of this important
question, remains to be seen. Certain it is that scientists are not yet
agreed on all the questions connected with this whole subject, but
further research will no doubt in time demonstrate more clearly those
points which are now in debate.

(Signed) D. D. Denise, President, Freehold P. O.
Cuas. HowELu Cook, Vice President, Trenton P. O.
FRANKLIN Dyek, Secretary, Trenton P. O.
Wiuuiam C. Parry, M.D., Hainesport P. O.
H. V. M. Dennis, Freehold P. O.
Isaac W. NicHoxson, Camden P. O.
JosEPH B. Warp, M.D., Lyons Farms P. O.
Commission.

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