Arizona republican., 1911-11-26

Ithcse are not the bacteria of conta- gious disease. but the ordinary air bac teria-
 The Standards of Pure Milk
 We might say that we should have an absolutely pure milk. entirely free from bacteria, but this is manifestly Impossible. as much so as to expect Isterile drinking water or sterile air Since the purity of milk depends on its ability to injure health or trans init disease, we can discuss pure milk from the standpoint of its bacteria, since the diseases caused by milk are due to the bacteria in it. It is criminal carelessness somewhere to permit the transfer of any human in- fectiOus disease through milk. so two standards of purity are perfectly req sonable
 | CD Healthy cows. 4 diseased COW not only cannot secrete good milk but she is liable to pass the germs of her disease into the milk and thus communicate it to human beings. Cows with tuberculosis. lumpy jaw, foot and mouth disease, abscess of the udder or ulcers of the teats | should either be killed or quarantined away from the herd until they are well.
 CD It is also plainly evident that no one who has a contagious or in- Ifectious disease, or who has been in contact with such patient, should have access 10 the cows. or have any connection with the milk. milk ing or milk utensils. This has refer ence to scarlet fever, measles, diph- thera, typhoid fever or tuberculosis Here in Phoenix we take fairly good precautions to prevent the spread of scarlet fever and diphtheria. when the cases occur within the city limits but such diseases occurring at the various farms or dairies supplying milk to us. could be transmitted to people within the city with little or nor effort to close that avenue Of in- lection The same is true of typhoid faver and most of our cases of ty- phoid arise in this very manner. The same is true of tuberculosis How eyer, the tuberculosis situation in Phoenix is unspeakable from every aspect, there being not one single
 
 in any direction, to prevent the spread of this infectious disease either by continuity or transference through some medium like milk. I will not say that We stand in alarming danger of infection with tuberculosis through our milk. but do say that SD far as we know. there may be q continual stream of tuberculosis milk delivered to uS, since no precautions are taken to prevent this danger.
 (3) If we could have healthy cows and milk free from germs of infec- tious disease. we have still to con slider the eXtraneous bacteria. or saprophytic bacteria. Within the ud- der of the COW milk is sterile. if the COW is healthy. Within the milk ducts and teats of the COW. the first bacteria are encountered and enter the milk. so that an absolutely sterile milk is always impossible. These bac- teria are of importance because of two reasons: CD In large numbers they produce chemical changes in the milk which make it unfit for food, and these changes may occur before the milk has soured. Souring of the milk lis due tO a particular kind of bac- teria. and the other bacteria may de- velop more rapidly, so that the sweet ness of the milk is not an indica- ton Of purity The chemical changes caused by these bacteria cause the milk to become irritant and lessens its nutritive value. t2) These bac- teria, in large numbers. are the cause of the harmful effects upon the in- fantile intestine All milk will con- tain these bacteria. while only small percentage will contain the germs of infectious diseases. so that means aiming at d pure milk must include all milks and all the time.
 Then. the third standard of pure milk is a minimum number of sapro- phvtic bacteria Drs. Park and Holt of New York city have made ex- haustive investigations and find that over one million bacteria per c. c. is certainly harmful to the average in- fant, and less than this number ire auently is harmful to invalids and babies There are not many bottles of milk delivered in Phoenix which will contain less than million bac- | teria in each fifteen drops of milk. which is one c. c.
 l How Can Pure Milk Be Secured. l Milk which will not cause disease can be gotten only by demanding 1t. refusing to receive bad milk and pun ishing any attempt to sell impure milk.
 | The use of diseased cows to fur nish milk should be punishable. and the city, county and state should take ! Iupon themselves to determine wheth- CT or not the cows are healthy.
 The transmission of infectious dis eases through milk should come with in the regular sanitary laws govern ing those diseases. and the reguia- tions should reach out and include the farms and dairies-
 These conditions are comparatively easy. because they are infrequent and the evils can easily he corrected. But to secure a milk with a mini mum of saprophytic bacteria is much more difficult matter. The number of bacteria in any given mix will depend on three things: CD The number of germs which have been