Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-09-09
Public Health Department
For the People of Sumter
BY DIR. W. B. M,wHoRTER.

some other infectious disease. the
state has law to require these places
screened, but where there is no tull
time health officer it seems to be not
much of anybody's business to see that
the law is enforced.
| In one of the larger towns / noticed
wagon with several folks and a
swarm of flies around it. I stopped to
see what the attraction was and found
it to be beef lying uncovered, except
by flies, in the open wagon. The GUS
toners were standing around while the
butcher cut each his piece of meat.
They seemed so used to the flies having
the first chance at their meat that no
notice was taken of them. There is
also a law in Georgia covering this sit
uation, but the local communities are
not having it enforced as it should be,
for fly contamination causes may of
our most fatal diseases.
Of one physician I visited on the
highway I inquired about the preva-
lence of typhoid fever. The doctor lean
&c back in his chair, threw his feet on
the desk before him, took fresh cigar
and with seeming air of pride said:
"Why, doctor, I have had eighteen
cases of typhoid fever this month, in
Guiding the two we buried and the one
or two who have about recovered" or
course, this doctor was in the fight
only after folks had the disease, and
I was not doing preventive work. | could
not blame him for the flies swarming
over things to eat all about town, and,
of course, in the country, too. He is
just one of many citizens making up
that county who ought to put in full
time health officer to work nightly
against these disease-breeding condi-
tons
! Of course, inquiry had to be made
about the dairies as we went along. To
my surprise, many of them had never
seen an inspector, so they went along
in the dairy business to suit them
selves The state dairy inspector goes
around occasionally, but the state is
too large for one or two men from At
lanta to see every daily Consequently
the state inspectr sees the larger dair-
les occasionally and hardly ever sees
the others. All diaries should be seen
by competent inspector once week.
At the very least they should be close
ly inspected by the public health of
ficer once a month. 1t is up to the
people who use milk and butter from
diaries to see that adequate provision
be made for regular and competent in
spection of these places. Milk is a
great carrier of disease and seldom
can pure milk be obtained from daisies
without regular and adequate inspec-
ton and public reports.
Sumter, Dougherty and Thomas
counties are showing marked progress
in the direction of sanitation. DR.. Nc
Whorter, Sumter's public health Off
Ger, is working earnestly to protect the
people from preventable diseases, espe-
cially typhoid fever l visited him at
the courthouse in Americas, and was
pleased to see large crowd of grown
folks and children around him waiting
in turn for incubation against typhoid
He had given the serum to more than
two hundred that day, and had fully
fifty waiting in line for the incubation
Work of this kind will be worth thous-
ands of dollars to Sumter county. DR..
McWhorter received his training for
the valuable work he is doing while he
was in Floyd county working with the
United States public health service last
year