Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 4 (of 5)Law, James
Science
Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 4 (of 5)
Law, James
Veterinary medicine
By the use of this method in hundreds of thousands of animals on
infected lands the mortality has been reduced to less than one tenth of
its former amount. It is attended by the one danger which is not always
duly appreciated, that unless its use is restricted to herds on ground
that is already infected, it endangers the infection of new districts.
The spores are not absolutely sterilized at 85° C. Arloing and Cornevin
and later, Nocard and Roux have shown that the addition of lactic acid
to the liquid which has been weakened for inoculation, restores it to
its former virulence, making it a most deadly agent. Galtier says that
the virus weakened by heating to 100° C. for seven hours until it will
no longer kill a mature Guinea pig, will still kill a new born Guinea
pig and acquire all its original virulence in the act. Also that the
injection of large enough doses will not only kill the full grown Guinea
pig, but at the same time restore the microbes to their former
virulence. While recognizing the great economy of the judicious use of
such weakened virus, we cannot but condemn the reckless sale by the
Pasteur institutes of their products, to be used on animals on all kinds
of lands, the uninfected as well as the infected. A great and valuable
prophylactic measure should not be used in such a way as to increase the
area of prevalence of the disease which is to be prevented, and also the
yearly demands for more of the preventive agent. This may appeal to the
business instinct, but this should ever be held subordinate to sanitary
considerations. The danger might be avoided by making the state the sole
distributor of such prophylactic agents, but in any case their use
should be forbidden, and as far as possible prevented, upon dense and
wet soils that are not yet contaminated by the bacillus.
7th. Kitt secured immunization by inoculating once only, with dried
virus which had been subjected for six hours to steam at 100° C.
8th. In different outbreaks, I have taken the blood from the sick
animal, or one that has just died, and heated it for over one hour in a
water bath, at 100° C., then broken up the coagulated mass in well
boiled water, filtered the liquid and used the filtrate for inoculation
in doses of 2 drams, repeated the second day. Great care is taken in
keeping the whole mass at 100° C. for the requisite length of time; then
in heating the upper part of the vessel, which was above the contents
and the water so as to char anything adhering to it; to see that hands,
instruments, and all articles used have been thoroughly sterilized; and
to dip the hypodermic nozzle in carbolic acid before each injection.
It is not claimed that this method is perfect, since severe, advanced
cases may have bacilli and even spores in the blood, and the latter
would not be sterilized but only weakened. It has, however, several
manifest advantages that may be held to more than counterbalance this
danger.
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