ACUTE INFECTIOUS DISEASES 79 



from a source suspected to have caused an outbreak of 

 diphtheria at Senghenydd in South Wales. There were about 

 39 cases, and although the epidemic was undoubtedly spread 

 by milk, there was no evidence as to how the milk became 

 infected. 



Eyre 1 isolated diphtheria bacilli from milk causing an 

 extensive outbreak of diphtheria in a school. He obtained 

 the diphtheria bacilli from both the cream and the centri- 

 fugalised sediment, being especially numerous in the former. 

 Two distinct types of diphtheria bacilli were present, while 

 their virulence was fully confirmed by guinea-pig inoculations. 



Klein 2 isolated a virulent diphtheria bacillus in one out 

 of one hundred samples of London milk submitted to him. 

 No information was available to show the source of the bacillus, 

 and whether its presence was associated with human cases of 

 diphtheria. 



Dean and Todd 3 isolated diphtheria bacilli from milk, and 

 from lesions on the udders of cows. The outbreak is fully 

 described on page 112. 



Marshall 4 isolated the diphtheria bacillus from a sample 

 of milk supposed to be associated with a little outbreak of 

 diphtheria consisting of 2 cases. The bacillus isolated was fully 

 virulent. It was not found possible to ascertain how the milk 

 became infected. 



TYPHOID FEVEK SPREAD BY MILK 



Examination of public health literature shows that typhoid 

 fever has been spread by milk in a very large number of cases. 

 For example, Trask 5 has compiled a list of 317 outbreaks, 

 of which 179 were collected by himself and 138 previously 

 by Hart and by Busey and Kober. These cases form but a 

 portion of the recorded outbreaks, the writer, for example, 

 being acquainted with reports of many epidemics of typhoid 

 fever spread by milk, scattered in different journals which are 

 not included in Trask's summary. In addition, a large 



1 British Medical Journal, 1899, p. 586. 



2 Journ. of Hygiene, 1901, i. p. 85. 



3 Ibid., 1902,ii. p. 194. 



4 Ibid., 1907, vii. p. 32. 



5 Bulletin No. 41, Public Health and Marine Hospital Service, Washington, 

 1908, p. 21. 



