126 GUIDE TO DAIRYING IN SOUTH AFRICA 



home for bacteria to thrive in. Milk therefore 

 becomes an ideal medium for the spread of disease. 

 Dr. M. L. Dhingra, in his " Elementary Bacterio- 

 logy," says, " As is well known, milk is a frequent 

 carrier of the infections of Tuberculosis, Cholera, 

 Scarlet Fever, Typhoid, and there is no doubt that 

 various diarrhoea disorders are due to the bacteria 

 which get into milk." 



That these diseases get into the milk after it is 

 drawn from the cow and not directly from the 

 blood of the animal is shown by the fact that 

 cattle are not subject to typhus, scarlet fever, or 

 diphtheria. Yet it has long been recognised by 

 all medical men that milk carries these diseases. 

 This does not mean that milk is diseased, but that 

 these different forms of bacteria have been found 

 in milk, and yet they do not come from the blood 

 of the animal. The typhus germ therefore gains 

 entrance after the milk is drawn from the cow, and 

 the chief source of infection is by using water for 

 washing the buckets or bottles which has become 

 contaminated with typhus germs. It may also 

 be introduced by some one handling the milk or 

 milk buckets or milking who has been nursing an 

 enteric patient. Scarlet fever and diphtheria are 

 also conveyed into milk by the same means. 

 Tuberculosis may also be carried by milk if the 

 milk from a cow with tuberculous udder be used, 

 for the organisms from the unhealthy parts of the 



