78 Dairy Bacteriology. 



that outbreaks of epidemic proportions develop. In 

 the Stamford, Conn., outbreak in 1895, 386 cases devel- 

 oped on one milk route. In this case it was shown that 

 the carrying cans were thoroughly washed, but were 

 later rinsed out with cold water from a polluted shal- 

 low well. 



The mode of infection of milk varies, but in general, 

 the original pollution is occasioned by the use of in- 

 fected water in washing the utensils, or a case of 

 *' walking typhoid'' or bacillus carrier, who directly 

 infects the milk. In case of sickness in rural families, 

 some member of the household may serve in the dual 

 capacity of nurse and milkmaid, thus establishing the 

 necessary connection. Busey and Kober report twent}^- 

 one outbreaks, in which dairy employees also acted in 

 the capacity of nurses. The fact that the urine of a 

 convalescent may retain the typhoid germ in large 

 numbers for some weeks renders the danger from this 

 source in reality greater than from feces, as, naturally, 

 much less care is exercised in the disposition of the 

 urine. 



The house fly is now regarded as one of the important 

 means of spreading typhoid fever, indeed it is often 

 called -the ' l typhoid fly. ' ' The infectious material de- 

 posited in an open vault may serve as a source from 

 which the fly carries the organisms to milk and other 

 foods in the - house or elsewhere. The protection of 

 vaults and the screening of every place where human 

 food is handled or prepared is the only protection. 



It should be emphasized that in the case of the tuber- 

 cle organism, no growth ever occurs in milk, but with 

 the typhoid bacillus growth is possible. It thus needs 

 "but the contamination of the milk with the smallest 



