Infection of Milk. 79 



particle oi; material containing them to seed the milk. 

 By the time it is consumed it may contain myriads of 

 the disease-producing organisms. 



Diphtheria. This is a highly infectious disease, af- 

 fecting children primarily and is characterized by the 

 formation of membranous exudates in the throat and 

 air passages, which are teeming with the causal organ- 

 ism, the diphtheria bacillus. This organism is capable 

 of forming highly toxic products, and it is to the effect 

 of these poisons that its fatal result is generally due. 

 The organism is thrown out from the body, in the main, 

 through the mouth, the surroundings of the patient be- 

 ing infected directly from the air, and indirectly, by 

 contact with polluted hands, lips, etc. Thus, the germ 

 deposited from the lips of a case of the disease, on the 

 common drinking cup, slate, lead pencils, toys, and the 

 like, may easily pass from child to child. Not infre- 

 quently, the causal organism persists in the throat long 

 after all evidence of membranous growth has subsided, 

 and so the child itself may act as a "bacillus carrier." 



Not so many epidemics of diphtheria as of typhoid 

 have been traced to milk, but the evidence is sufficient 

 to indict milk as a disseminator of contagion. In sev- 

 eral cases, the diphtheria germ has actually been iso- 

 lated from infected milk supplies. Actual growth of 

 the diphtheria germ is" said to take place in raw milk 

 more rapidly than in sterilized. 



Scarlet fever. While the germ of scarlet fever has 

 not yet been isolated, and therefore its life history in 

 relation to milk cannot be depicted so accurately, yet 

 milk-borne epidemics of this disease are sufficiently 

 abundant to leave no doubt but that this food medium 



