The copper era., 1910-09-02
Arizona Territorial Board of Health.

usually transmitted by means of
water, ice, milk or food containing
typhoid germs, or through the agency
of the household fly, or it may be
contracted directly by people who
come into direct contact with those
having the disease. The disease is
always most prevalent during the
late summer and autumn. While
bad sanitary surroundings (such as
lack of drainage, defective plumbing
open cesspools, sewer gas, decaying
animal and vegetable matter, etc.
may make a person predisposed to
the disease, they can not themselves
cause the disease. 1t requires the
presence of the typhoid germ.
The drinking water becomes in
fected by the entrace into it of the
discharges from the bowels or kid
neys of some typhoid case. The
source of infection may be some
miles away from the outbreak of the
disease.
Typhoid germs may be carried by
milk, the milk becoming contami-
uated in the first place by being
drawn from the COW by someone
whose hands have come in contact
with the discharges of a typhoid
patient, by being in a vessel which
has been washed by infected water,
or by flies that have come in contact
with tvnhoid DISCHARGES
Typhoid germs can live for long
time in the soil, and it a patients
discharges are put on or into the
ground without previous disinfection,
the natural drainage may infect
supply of drinking water.
Uncooked food may cause the dis
ease through being washed or irri-
gated by infected water or through
handling by person with infected
hands. Several very extensive cpl
denies have been definitely traced to
the eating of shell fish taken from
polluted waters. Cooking destroys
the germs.
Flies are capable of being an
active agent in transmitting typhoid
fever, in fact, they are one of the
chief vehicles of infection. The fall
increase in typhoid fever wrongly re-
garded as an effect of weather, is
mainly due to the activity and pre-
valence of the common house fly dur
ing the summer months, at which
time the fever is Contracted The
spread of the disease in boarding
houses, commonly attributed to the
polluted well, is more often due to
the agency of the domestic fly.
Actual contact between cases of
typhoid fever and well persons is a
frequent means of transmitting the
disease when such well persons do
not observe the proper precautions
in handling the patients discharges.
Both the feces and the urine contain
the typhoid germs for several weeks
after the patients are apparently
well. Many typhoid patients are so
slightly sick that the disease is mot
recognized as typhoid; yet their dis
charges contain typhoid germs and
are source of danger. In rare in
stances. persons remain carriers of
the typhoid germs for years after re
covery from the fever, and are per-
petual source of infection. Many
cases said to be malaria are really
typhoid.
AS an aid to the prevention of
typhoid the public should advocate
and work for the installation of a
pure public water supply wherever
the population is sufficient to justify
public work of this kind. "Put all
your eggs in one basket and watch
that basket"
The public should also advocate
and work for an efficient sewerage
system-one that includes the resi-
Dental parts of the town as well as
the business portion. The board of
health or the common council should
have power to order extensions of
municipality owned systems. and
should compel the connection there
with of all houses within reasonable
distance.
Open privy vaults should be pro-
hibited. Where no sewerage system
exists the danger may be lessened by
proper screening to prevent the in
gress and egress of flies, and by
locating the vault so as to avoid con-
terminating the water supply. The
latter is very difficult of accomplish
ment in places with rocky soil, as
infection may travel great distances
through assures.
Many cases of typhoid fever occur
in cities during the fall among fami-
lies that have spent the summer at
summer resorts the sanitary arrange
ments of which are inadequate. Be
fore engaging rooms visitors should
demand evidence that the house and
its surroundings are satisfactory
from sanitary standpoint.
PRECAUTIONS AGAINST CONTRACTING
THE DISEASE.
1. For drinking purposes use only