Infection of Milk. 75 



Anthrax, actinomycosis (lumpy jaw), rabies, and 

 malta fever are diseases the organisms of which have 

 been found in the milk of affected animals. In case of 

 the first three, while the possibility exists of the infec- 

 tion of human beings by milk, it is improbable that such 

 infection does normally occur. Malta fever is becoming 

 an important disease in portions of southern Europe. 

 It is produced in man by the use of milk of goats suffer- 

 ing from the disease. 



The organism causing contagious abortion in cattle 

 is known to be present in the milk of the infected ani- 

 mal at the time of its withdrawal from the udder. It 

 is not probable that the organism is of any sanitary 

 significance as far as man is concerned. It has been 

 shown that the organism is able to produce a disease 

 in guinea pigs on artificial inoculation that is very 

 similar, so far as the lesions are concerned, to tubercu- 

 losis. It is also probable that the by-products of cream- 

 eries and cheese factories may serve to spread the dis- 

 ease from one herd to another. 



Inflammation of the udder (garget) is a frequent 

 trouble in every herd. It is marked by the swelling of 

 one or more quarters, by the appearance of fever and 

 changes in the appearance and composition of the milk. 

 The inflammation may be caused by cold or injury, or 

 by the invasion of the udder with pus-forming bacteria. 

 In the first case the trouble is not likely to persist for 

 any length of time, and does not spread to other mem- 

 bers of the herd. The milk may be more or less stringy, 

 and may show a slimy flocculent sediment. It cannot 

 be asserted that such milk is harmful to man but it 

 should be rejected on general sanitary grounds, and be- 

 cause it cannot always be differentiated from that com- 



