|
|
But it is Rutherford’s work on the eradication of bovine tuberculosis that was his most important contribution. The threat to humans, not cattle, had focused attention on this disease and brought veterinarians into the realm of medical doctors and bacteriologists. (Rutherford claimed to have known of the interrelationship between bovine and human tuberculosis before its announcement in 1882 by Robert Koch, discoverer of the tuberculosis bacilli and the tuberculin for testing.) Rutherford’s personal concern, which dated back to his days at Bow Park, had been reinforced when his son died as an infant from tuberculosis contracted from contaminated milk, before the family left Portage la Prairie. His attack was three-pronged, the major thrust being his attempt to control the disease within the nation’s herds, as a program initiated by McEachran. It had become apparent by the late 1890s that the testing of general herds, the slaughter of infected cattle, and compensation were simply not feasible in Canada. Programs of this nature had been set up in various American states but had failed and all cost more than the Canadian government could afford. In 1894 McEachran established compulsory testing for imported pure-bred breeding cattle, which were considered the primary vectors. Such stock had to undergo quarantine at government stations; cattle that reacted were destroyed without compensation. Breeders opposed this program. Bovine tuberculosis and its transmission were still not well understood, the test gave ambiguous results, McEachran had acted in an autocratic way, and slaughter caused huge financial hardship. As a result the pure-bred cattle associations repeatedly demanded the cessation of testing. When Koch, in a controversial turnabout in 1901, claimed (wrongly) that the bovine form was not contagious to man, breeders became even more adamant.
|
