Abstract
IN his inaugural thesis (Thése de Paris, 1940, No. 322), Dr. M. L. Rose-Legrand remarks that until the last few years the five departments of Normandy were regarded as free from human undulant fever. Recent publications, however, indicate that Normandy has by no means escaped visitations of this disease, as is shown by the fact that the writer has been able to collect at least twenty-seven cases in the course of the last six years, eleven being in Seine-Inférieure, six in Calvados, five in Eure, three in Manche and one in Orne. With the exception of a single case caused by B. melitensis, all the cases of human undulant fever have resulted from infection by B. abortus bovis. Not a single case in the departments of Normandy has been due to goats or sheep. In two instances infection was caused by accidental inoculation, namely, by a polyvalent vaccine in a veterinary surgeon, and in another in a cattle breeder. In the majority of cases inoculation has taken place through the skin and only in a minority by consumption of raw milk from infected cows. Hitherto, there have been no instances of human infection by cheese. In conclusion, the writer recommends that the well-established existence of undulant fever in Normandy should receive the attention of veterinary and medical practitioners, especially in rural districts. In another thesis (Thèse de Paris, 1940, No. 277), Dr. R. G. C. F. Grigny states that he has recently collected ten cases of undulant fever which have occurred during the last four years in the department of the Somme, where contagious abortion has recently been frequent among the cattle.
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Undulant Fever in Normandy. Nature 146, 399 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/146399a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/146399a0