The "milk-sick" came to the Lincoln family

[Ed Steers]

The descriptions are scant to be sure. Because trematol tends to be all or nothing while Brucellosis varies in its effect I have always felt that Nancy Hanks did not die of trematol poisoning but more likely Brucellosis. While Brucellosis is treatable today due to antibiotics it was more deadly in the 1800s. Since it is likely the children drank the same milk as Nancy it seems likely her illness was infectious and not neurological, which the children would have experienced. I still think David Donald got it right in his Lincoln biography.