Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1902-09-24
TYPHOID FEVER.
Bacillus Survives 10 tho Ground as Well as
IN the Water--AbsoIuteIy PreysniabIe.

The Medical Record, July 26, con-
tains an article by nj. A. Veeder, M.
d., on typhoid fever from sources
other than water supply" which
contains some information of inter-
est to the general public, and which
should receive especial consideration
from the sanitary authorities of
small municipalities. The article is
too long to be summarized here, hut
some of its statements on the point
of soil infection deserve particular
notice.
AS matter of fact, says the
authority named, there are plenty of
reports of instances in which every
possible precaution in reference to
water supply have been taken, "and
yet typhoid continued to spread as
though nothing had been DONE"
Whether the typhoid bacillus sub
sists in the soil directly, or finds a
host in some worm or other living
organism, or in some product of de-
composition, he adds, he cannot say,
"but somehow it survives in the
ground just as successfully, or even
more 80, than it does in water"
His observations lead to the conclu-
sion that "the burial of typhoid
material in the earth, without ade-
quate disinfection, is the surest way
of perpetuating the disease in any
locality, keeping it alive for years,
and causing it to become epidemic" !"
In almost every town and village
some physician or nurse may be
found who insists on the burial of
typhoid exoretions as the proper
method for their disposal, as there
has long been vague idea that fresh
earth is a disinfectapt. "But there
is good evidence that the typhoid
bacillus grows to the surface in a
mixture of soil and fecal matter, like
fungus in hot bed, so that burial
is no protection whatever against its
spread" Under some conditions
the nitrifying organisms of the soil
appear to be able to destroy the
typhoid bacillus under others it re-
sists such organisms as successfully
as does the bacillus of tetanus, whose
natural habitat is the soil.
1t so comes to pass that there are
localities in which typhoid fever per-
sists from year to year, "because of
soil contamination primarily. In
such cases, if there is any contami-
nation of water supply, it is caused
by the soil conditions, and the dis.
ease, moreover, may be spread from
the soil itself without the aid of
water. A number of impressive
instances of infection, wholly inde-
pendent of the water supply, and
following the practice of burying the
execretion, are given; but we can
not repeat them here. Of one, it is
noted, however, that the breaking
up of the practice ended a long
series of annual cases of the disease,
finally eliminating in a serious cpl
demic, and that no case has since
occurred in the community in a
period of ten years.
Infection from the soil, it is re.
marked, may find access to the in
testinal tract in many ways other
than through the agency of water.
Vegetables that are eaten raw, as
radishes, lettuce and celery, grown
on contaminated soil, is one way.
Dust blown by the wind is another.
Flies, of course, are active agents in
conveying the infection, and the
author devotes considerable space to
them. AS they usually derive the
infection from closets, these places
should be carefully guarded. A
"closet should not be all open to the
light of day and buzzing like a bee
hive with swarms of flies. Its in
terror should be dark and enclosed,
so as to be fy-proof," and above all
it should be thoroughly disinfected
"at frequent intervals" cit ia i'm
proper construction of closets that
starts many of the epidemics of
typhoid in villages and suburbs of
cities, that are commonly ascribed
to bad water. Epidemics spread by
flies tend to follow the direction of
prevailing warm winds. In cities
where underground sewers carry the
dangerous material beyond the ordi-
,eaenq GSAas,