Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1915-05-20
THE DUTY OF A GOOD NEIGHBoR.
Rigid Quarantine Moral Obligation IN
the Case Of Contagious Diseases

Rigid Quarantine Moral Obligation in
the Case Of Contagious Diseases.
Every family which has member
i'll with typhoid fever, scarlet fever or
other contagious disease, is entitled to
the sympathy and intelligent help of
the community At the same time, the
stricken family should realize fully
that simple good citizenship calls upon
it's members to do everything in their
power to prevent the spread of the
contagion to neighbors. In the coun-
try especially, where there are seldom
health officers to impose rigid quaran-
tine, the duty of keeping the sick sep-
arated from the well falls with pecu-
liar weight on the afflicted family,
Ordinary neighborliness demands that
such a family keep its members away
from others and prevent outsiders
from coming in contact with the in
lection.
On a farm producing and selling
milk, a contagious disease such as ty-
phoid or scarlet fever demands special
precautions. A very few germs OF
these diseases allowed to get into the
milk may multiply rapidly and be a
source of disease in many families on
the milk route served by the farmer.
In the case of typhoid. the disease
may come from germs in the well wa
ter, and this water if used unbOfled for
cleansing milk bottles or cans may
very well start typhoid epidemic in
neighboring town. Inspectors have
frequently traced outbreaks of scarlet
fever and typhoid along milk route
back tn q sick person on the produc-
er's farm.
It 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 han
die the milk on such farms, even
though they never have been near the
person Who is Sick should take special
precautions. Before entering the milk
room they should put on clean cap
and a clean buster, which are never
allowed to go into the house. In cases
of typhoid or suspected typhoid all
water used in cleansing milk vessels
should first be boiled. Finally, even
with all these precautions Wherever
typhoid or scarlet fever is even srs-
pected in family. the milk should be
thoroughly pasteurized before being
sold.
The milk producer who takes these
precautions establishes his good clt!-
xenship. ! The one who handles milk
carelessly in his family is, though he
may not realize it, possible enemy 20
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 ms
suneryision. Inspectors recently fol-
lowing up case OF bad milk found the
owner OF the farm sick with q bad case
OF typhoid fever. He gave his illness
AZ a. reason for his not being proescu-
ted, because the low .quanty OF tue
milk was due directly to its handhns
BY inexperienced persons. 1nXesugaE
ton proved that the, farmers Illness IN ~
was enc ola succession; 81 cases oI
atphoid that had occurred on ms IaI .a !
Thesproba bifity, therefore. was that the
milk being sent out before the farmer
was sick was dangerously eontann1na-
ted. while. of course, the risk after III
ness had withdrawn his attention was
vastly increased.
In many cases where an outbreak OF Q
fynhoid has been traced back TO q
dairy the owner was not always read
ily recognized as such, and not .un-
commonly passes simply as a fever.o or.
a dairy farm should be regarded Wit
suspicion and lead to very caTeIu
handling of the milk.
Members of households IN Wnici-
there are contagious or suspicious IL
nesses also have an important part To
NAV in keeping the milk supply clean
They should never return empty milk
bottles without first boiling them, and
anv family which takes a public milk
bottle into a room where there is a
CONTAGIOUS disease is really, party 10
q serious offense against public health
A milk dealer who learns OF a case OF
sickness in family should keep the
bottles from that house separated trols-
the others and make certain that Iney
are very carefully ster1llzed Delore
they are used for milk.
Even where there is no sickness on
farm, the dairy farmer should use
every effort to produce high gradf
clean milk from healthy cows. Ster-
liking of bottles and other milk yes
sells is essential. u. S. Dept. OF Agr1-
culture.
40 c,m 1nuN WIZ. CONnTrcT