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the low grade white than does the full blood, and thus the incidence might reasonably be expected to be higher. But reliable facts to substantiate such assertions are lacking.
A few years ago an attempt was made to do routine Wassermanns on the Taos Indians, but, due to poor handling, it was never possible to complete the study. At present, the physicians at the Consolidated Chippewa Agency are attempting to do routine Wassermanns on all Indians on their reservations. At the time of the survey visit, the work was barely started, but the Indians were coming in fairly well. If this effort can be extended to the majority of Indians in this jurisdiction, irrespective of a suspicion of infection, reliable figures will have been secured for at least one group.
Many agency physicians say that the Indians will not come to them for treatment for venereal diseases, but go instead to outside practitioners. The general impression gained was that the Indian was quick to seek treatment in the acute stages of the disease, but it was difficult to get him to continue after the acute symptoms had subsided. A vast field for investigation and the institution of control practice for this disease among the Indians awaits intelligent interested physicians.
Typhoid Fever. Physicians very commonly reported that they had had no cases of typhoid fever on their present reservations or on previous assignments for years. The older physicians report only an occasional case in the past. This fact was a distinct surprise, because the Indians generally depend upon a very questionable water supply. At several reservations and schools, according to analyses made by state boards of health, the water was reported contaminated. The water supply at Zuni, for example, persistently showed B. coli pollution. For years, the raw sewage of the Black Rock School, four miles upstream, was dumped untreated into the river, but rarely was there a case of typhoid. The reason for this is hard to determine. Very little milk is used, and thus one very important source of infection is eliminated. Possibly the Indians may have derived some immunity by frequent ingestion of contaminated water. Clearly, however, typhoid is not now a problem among Indians, or as some writers say, the disease has not yet been extensively introduced among them. Numerous cases of dysentery, however, are reported.