The Washington herald., 1907-03-17

/ ~ me Ilt present outbreak DA y Jl4blt
fever is by no means wholly attributed
to milk. the wonder IS. judging from our
observations OF the milk business Ia tho
/ District OF Columbia, that more sickness
and disease is not spread through this
/ medium.
Wants shallow Wells Closed.
The board recommends the closing OF
ali the shallow wells in the District. six
/ ty-three in number, and states that II. for
any reason. and Of those now regarded as
suspicious should be continued in use.
laboratory facilities should be afforded
/ tho health officer. and he should be
granted authority 90 close Immediately
any such well upon the first indication Of
| sewage pollution. The water Of the TWEEN
/ ty-four deep wells. it is stated. have
been found or excellent quality both
chemically and bacteriologically.
| In reference 10 Potomac water. the re-
/ port says
'"fhe waters of the Potomac are d.
rectly polluted by sewage at numerous
I points. This direct pollution is con
[ tdbuteG by not more than 5000, OF 9 per
cent Of the total population OF the water
shed OF this pollution about - per cent
enters tie river at points l75 miles or
more from the intake Of the Washington
/ Aqueduct at Great Falls; about 10 per
/ cent enters Il at points between fifty and
175 miles above Great Fails, and . per
/ cent. contributed by about 100 OF the
/ population, enters at points between nine
teen and fifty miles above the intake.
No Pollution Near Intake.
Practically no direct pollution Of the
Potomac takes place within nineteen
miles Of the intake; but as this portion
( of the watershed is inhabited. the posi-
biity and danger OF direct pollution of
The river within this section cannot be
/ ignored.
I The typhoid fever bacillus has never
/ been isolated from the Potomac River
water. We. therefore. have no direct evil
/ dence to prove or disprove the assertion
that some Of the infection may or may
not be water borne. We must. then. sat
/ isfy ourselves for the present with Ger
tain indirect evidence bearing upon this
/ important question.
Despite the Improvement in the water
Que to storage. sedimeutation and dltra-
tiOn, 10 appreciable change in the typhoid
situation Is apparent
'Water-borne epidemics due 70 concen-
trated and quickly transferred infection.
may occur at any time OF the year. par
/ ticularly the spring and late fall; such
epidemics are generally characterized by
sudden onset and sharp decline Little Is
known of the characteristics of typhoid
fever outbreaks resulting from water con
tanning diluted and slowly transferred
Infection.
Simultaneous Over Watershed.
1t seems that so far as the incomplete
records are obtainable typhoid fever pre-
walls 10 a great extent at the same season
in Washington and over the entire water
shed. This indicates that the causes.
whatever they may be. act simultaneously
along the entire course OF the river
while II is true that the Potomac re-
ceives the sewage directly Of many thou
sands Of persons, much of this pollution
is distant and greatly diluted. Self-purh-
cation takes place TO such an extent that
the water at the intake averages but a
few thousand bacteria per cubic cent?
meter the year round. and may be con
sidered of fair sanitary quality compared
10 other grossly polluted streams used
for drinking purposes
1T is probably true that in former years
some Of the typhoid fever in Wash
ngtop was due 10 infection IN the river
water. but in view OF the Improvement OF
the water by storage sedlmentatiOn. and
filtration Il would seem reasonable TO sup
pose that the danger of infection from
the water may have been largely elirni-
mated.
Commissioner MacfaFIand's Comment
Commissioner Macfarland said yester-
day that the investigation had been one Of !
the most important ever held and was
valuable not only for its information re-
spectIng typhoid fever. but as to general /
health conditions. He hoped that the
report would solve the typhoid mystery. +
He pointed out that the recommendations J
Of the report as to additional regulations /
Of the milk business had been anticipated 4
in the legislation recommended by the 4
Commissioners TO Congress al the last 4
session, which. unfortunately. did not be-
come a law. but which will be pressed 4
at the coming session of Congress. and 4
also that the Commissioners had asked 4
for a archaeological laboratory for the 4
health department which would enable It 1
10 make archaeological examinations rs /
we'll as the chemical examinations which /
IL now makes Commissioner MacfarIand /
called attention to the fact that the re-
port attributed only 10 per cent Of the /
cases 10 the milk supply
Half the Cases still a Mystery.
In reference to the report Or. Wood
ward said yesterday:
The conclusion reached by the com
mittee appointed by the Surgeon General
of the Public Health and Marine Hospital
Service as to the cause for the undue
prevalence Of typhoid fever In the Dis
trict Of Columbia comedies it seems to
me. very closely with the conclusion
reached some time ago by the health Off
Ger. We have known all along that some
cases were imported, that some were due
to milk. that some were due TO direct con
tact but there has never been any reason
for believing that these causes accounted
for all cases or that they played a more
important part in the causation of ty-
phoid fever in this city than they did
elsewhere
THE cause of considerably more than
half of the reported cases even now re-
mains mystery. which means simply
that those who are desirOus OF removing
from Washington the stigma which now
attaches to it as a typhoid fever city.
must continue the search in which they
have so long been engaged to find the
cause for the undue prevalence of typhoid
fever, and an efficient remedy for its pre-
vention.