Abstract
ON the publication of the final report of the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis the view was frequently expressed that those in authority ought, long ago, to have taken precautions against the dangers arising out of the use of milk containing tubercle bacilli. To those who have followed the matter carefully this scarcely seems to be a very rational position to assume, as, up to the publication of this report, Koch's dictum, backed by the authority of his enormous prestige, held the field. It is now recognised that Koch's pronouncement on this question was the cause of the difficulties that arose immediately after he had spoken at the London Tuberculosis Congress, and there can be little doubt that these difficulties, then foreseen, led the executive of the congress to insist so strongly on the appointment of a Royal Commission. It was evident that inspection, the use of tuberculin, the destruction of tuberculous cattle, might all be ruled out as unnecessary, if Koch's thesis that there was no danger from the presence of the tubercle bacillus was to be accepted.
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Tuberculosis and the Milk Supply . Nature 87, 219–220 (1911). https://doi.org/10.1038/087219a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/087219a0