Sensitivity to tuberculin and to PPD-Battey in two villages in Ponape District Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

The reaction of the populations of two villages in Ponape District to PPD-Battey and to two tuberculin tests of different strengths was analyzed. The average annual incidence of infection in one village was estimated to be between seven and nine per cent per year; in the other village the incidence of infection was less than one per cent. Why these infection rates in the two villages were so different is not clear, but it is felt that the identification of the causative factor(s) may be considerable significance to the formulation of tuberculosis control policies in the district.