Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-19

the man RECEIVERS. II has been found,
however. that there are certain human
beings who are bacillus carriers. They
are loaded with typhoid and other dis
eases but the disease has no effect upon
them and they keep in health. BY dis
ease | mean that they have in them null
titudes of the bacilli which cause the dis
ease. One case of this kind was that of
a cook known Typhoid Mary She
went from place to place and wherever
she worked the people got the typhoid
fever There were Severa' dozen of such
cases. all caused by this healthy Mary.
Similar instances have been discovered
by the Germans, and it is now found
that there are certain people who are
carrying about the cholera bacillus in the
same way. For this reason all the mmi
grants who are now coming from the
Mediterranean are carefully examined,
even to the making OF Il meteorological
analysis. 4 number of cholera carriers
have been already discovered and sent
back to Europe.
one of the German doctors speaks of a
female typhoid carrier who had been
distributing this disease for forty Years.
and another the manager OF an estate,
who had been giving il out for ten years
During this time sixteen cases OF typhoid
had occurred on that estate. In the
German statistics ii is found that IN
about 400 female carriers 800 were house
keepers and ffty-six domestic servants
One was connected with a dairy
And this brings me to one of these chron-
ic bacillus carriers who once spread a
blanket of typhoid fever over large part
of Washington. The epidemic occur
red in the fall of 1908, and in less than
three weeks the District of Columbia had
13j cases of typhoid. OF these fty-four
satrn gv0
ton it was learned that all had been
drinking milk supplied by two dairymen
from the edge of the city. The diaries
were investigated and found to be clean;
It was learned, however that each had
been sending out milk bought from
woman who had farm nearby This
woman | shall call Mrs. X The milk
was traced to the consumers, ana II was
found that in nearly every case II had
given them typhoid fever. The history
Of Mrs X. was inquired into and it was
discovered that she had had typhoid
fever eighteen years previously. She was
bacteriologically examined and 1t was
shown that she still had typhoid ba-
cilli in her. She was loaded with them
and was giving them out all the time
When she washed the pans or handled
the milk she unknowingly mixed some OF
these death-dealing bacilli with the prod
ucts of her cows, and IN due time tney
were taken into the stomachs of the con-
sumner.
In short. fifty-four cases of typhoid were
directly traced to her These cases exist
ed at the time. and il is not known now
much she had caused in the past. She
had been i'm the dairy business for about
a half dozen years, but the scientists say
that she must have been carrying around
and giving out typhoid bacill for eight
cen years. The result of the investiga-
ton was that she was put out OF the
dairy business and any milk furnished
by her was absolutely forbidden to the
Washington supply. / would say that had
the dairymen who bought this milk pas
teurized it before delivering II TO thelr
. customers this treatment would have de-
stroyed the bacilli and the outbreak or
typhoid could not have occurred.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.