Monday, April 13, 2015

Undulant Fever

        Practically exterminated in North America, Brucellosis AKA Undulant Fever  and numerous other names is a disease of animals that can kill humans, and typically causes spontaneous abortions in cattle, sheep, goats... Humans frequently catch it by drinking unpasteurized milk, or less frequently poorly cooked meat.
       Read a PDF fact sheet about it
        Since it was  a disease brought under control many years ago, people have not known the damage that it can cause.  And along comes a new generation that claim that unpasteurized milk is okay; the facts from the past make these claims appear silly.
Undulent-Fever-1954
With a little research I found out that it was this fellow
Ferris_Clemens-OBIT
Ferris Larson Clemens, was a farmer in Chilliwack for seven years, he was born on the 27th of March 1900 in Day County, South Dakota, and he died on the 9th of February 1954 at Chilliwack General hospital. 
        Cause of death:  gastric haemorrhage, brucellosis.   Not sure if this fellow is the last death in B.C. from this nasty disease, but he must be one of the last.
 
         At the time of his death he was farming on Fairfield Island, Chilliwack, at 209 Prest Road.
His parents: Emory Elson Clemens, and Georgiana "Mary" Larson
Ferris was married to to Alberta Elizabeth Jane Patterson 1901 – 1969
Alberta_Clemens-OBIT
They had one daughter, who eventually became Mrs. Shirley McClure.
Ferris also left a sister behind to mourn his loss: Mrs. Alice Sweet

Shirley_Ferris-marriage
Daughter Shirley Clemens gets married to Raymond Walter McLure in 1956
Note to self:   Do not drink unpasteurized dairy products