The daily sentinel., 1908-11-17
TYPHOID FEVER AND MILK

| TYPHOID FEVER AND MILK.
! The recent outbreaks of ty-
| pl,oid fcvcr which have been
traced directly To milk supply
| seem to warrant our calling the
attention of thc slairyin:'n and
] the consumer, Rs Welt, 90 some
Of the more common practices
which are responsible tor these
epidemics. There is no longer
any question that specific
germ, Bacillus typhosus, is the
cause of typhoid fever. More
| over. we know that the most fire.
| quent channels of infection are
| through food and drink, espec-
| tally the latter.
Clean, sanitary milk does not con-
tain the germs of typhoid; but clean
milk is the exception. II is the or
binary milkman with a few cows, a
dark. vile smelling COW shed, and a
| filthy, boggy barnyard with manure
and mud knee deep, that menaces
public health.
Many epidemics have been traced
to sickness in the home of the dairy
man, and with careless man at the
helm, it is a very simple matter to
, spread the disease. The eXcreta from.
the person suffering with typhoid
fever will be thrown upon the ground
or INTO a leaky cesspool or privy
vault, and with the first rain or melt
ing of the snow this material, alive
with germs, will be washed into
nearby WELL cstern, ditch or barn
lot Water from this we'll, without
previous boiling, will be used in
rinsing cans, pals. and bottles; the
milker win wash his hands in it pre-
liminary TO milking, provided he goes
to the trouble; the cans of milk will
be set in troughs and tubs containing
this water; aerating and cooling de-
vices will be supplied with it, and,
granting that the day of the dishonest
milkman, who waters his milk. is
past, there are a hundred different
ways by which the disease-prodring
water might get into the milk.
Cows that have access to running
water in an irrigating ditch, which
has been polluted by an overhanging
privy or drain will wade in this water
and come to the stable with their legs
and udders literally wriggling with
typhoid fever germs. AS soon as
milking begins, germ laden hairs fall
into the milk. and once in the milk,
the micro-organism.r> introduced on
the hairs, multiply at tremendous
rate, and no power save boiling or
the addition of some harmful or de-
leterious gSrmicide can render the
milk safe for human beings.
No bottled milk should be left with
customers who have, in their families
typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet
fever. or. in fact any contagious or
infectious disease. Epidemics have
originated from bottles infected in
just such a manner. Deliver milk to
such persons in their own utensils
In the summer time, flies offer one
of the most dangerous means of
spreading disease. One minute they
are feeding upon typhoid excreta,
their legs and probosces plastered
with infectious material, and the
next, they are swarming the stable
and milk house, getting into every
thing and inoculating the milk with
the germs of disease.
Medical examination of the milk,
mans family at regular intervals, as
well as his cattle, should be required
by law, so that if there is any serious
sickness, extra precautionary meas
ures can be taken to protect the milk
from infection Whether public SEN
timent is as yet strong enough TO de-
mand legislation for protection of
human life against the INSCRIPTIONS
milkman remains to he seen.
WALTER O. SACKETT,
Bacteriologist. Colorado Experiment
Station, Fort Collins.