The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1914-10-10
DUTY OF A GOOD NEIGuROR.
Hisid Quarantine u Moral Obligation
III the Case Of Contagious Diseases.


10 the sympathy and intelligent help
VI the community. At the same time
the stricken family should realize full
that simple good citizenship calls
upon lts members to do everything in
'heir power to prevent the spread of
the contagion to neighbors. In the
country specially. where there are sell
dom health officers to impose rigid
quarantines, the duty Of keeping the
SICK separated from the we'll falls
with peculiar weight on the afflicted
family. Ordinary neighborliness de-
mands that such a family keep it's
members away from others and pre-
vent outsiders from coming in contact
with the infection.
on farm producing and selling
milk, contagious disease such as
typhoid or scarlet fever demands spe-
cial precautions. A very few germs
or these diseases allowed to get into
the milk may multiply rapidly and be
n source Of disease in many families
on the milk route served by the farm
er
IN the case Of typhoid, the disease
may come from germs in the we'll
water, and this water if used unboiled
FOR cleansing milk bottles or cans may
very we'll Start typhoid epidemic in
neighboring town. Inspectors have
frequently traced outbreaks Of scarlet
feVer and typhoid along a milk route
and back to sick person on the pro-
ducer's farm.
1t Is the duty Of every milk farmer
to see that no one who is suffering
from fever Of any kind ever enters the
dairy. Moreover, no one engaged in
nursing the sick should ever be allow
ed to go near milk. Those who
handle the milk on such farms, even
though they never have been near the
person who is sick, should take spe-
cial precautions. Before entering the
milk room they should put on a clean
cap and a clean duster, which are
never allowed to go into the house.
In cases Of typhoid or suspected ty-
phoid oil water used in cleansing milk
vessels should first be boiled. Final
ly. even with all these precautions.
wherever TYPHOID or scarlet fever is
even suspected in family, the milk
should be thoroughly pasteurized be-
fore being sold.
The milk producer who takes these
establishes his good citi-
The one who handles milk
carelessly with sickness in his family
Is, though he may not realize it,
possible enemy to his customers.
Such precautions are doubly neces-
sary where the owner Of the farm is
the sufferer, because the milk is apt
to be handled carelessly for lack Of
his supervision. Inspectors recently
up q case Of bad milk found
the owner of the farm sick with a
bad case Of typhoid fever. He gave
his illnss as q reason for his not being
because the low quality of
the milk was due directly to it's hand
ling by inexperienced persons. Inves-
tigation proved that the farmers ILL
ness was one of a succession Of cases
Of typhoid that had occurred on this
farm. The probability, therefore, was
that the milk being sent out before
the farmer was sick was dangerously
while, of course, the
risk after illness had withdrawn his
attention was vastly increased.
In many cases where an outbreak
of typhoid has been traced back to
q dairy the owner was not deliberately
careless. Typhoid fever is not al
ways readily recognized as such. and
not uncOmmOnly passes simply as a
fever or bowel complaint. For this
reason every case Of fever on dairy
far,l should be regarded with sus-
picion and lead to very careful handl-
ing Of the milk.
Members Of households in which
there are contagious or suspicious ILL
ness also have an important part to
play in keeping the milk supply clean.
They should never return empty milk
bottles without first boiling them, and
any family which takes a public milk
bottle into a room where there Is a
contagious disease is really party to
Il serious Offense against public
health. A milk dealer who learns OF
a case Of sickness in Il family should
keep the lUttles from that house sep
arated from the others and make GER
tain that they are very carefully Steri-