TYPHOID FEVER MILK-BORNE OUTBREAKS 



323 



Reporter and reference. — Dr Ballard 

 (Loc. Gov. Bd.). Brit. Med. Jour., 

 1 88 1, vol. i., p. 20. 



Glasgow, 1880 {April). 



Total number of cases . . 508 



Deaths 69 



Number of cases amongst 



drinkers of suspected milk . 373 



Percentage of total cases . . 73 

 Number of families supplied by 



milkman invaded , . , 257 



Number of polluted milk sources i 



Nimiber of milkmen ... 30 



Circumstances implicating the milk 

 supply. — Dairyman got milk from 30 

 farms, in one only of which was there 

 defect. Here the milk-house, wash- 

 ing-house, kitchen, and living-rooms 

 were all en suite. Four cases of 

 enteric fever occurred at the farm, one 

 being the dairy-maid. She was nursed 

 above the milk-house and suffered 

 severely. The excreta were throwTi 

 over dung heap and the soiled linen, 

 etc., was washed at dip-well, which 

 was also used occasionally for dairy 

 purposes. 



Exactly 14 days after first cases at 

 farm tj^hoid broke out in area of 

 Glasgow supplied with milk from this 

 farm. Of 40 milk-shops supplied by 

 dairyman, 30 were infected. Entire 

 body of trade was tainted. It was 

 associated with fever in dairjTnan's 

 own family, in persons served direct 

 from his cart. It poisoned the families 

 of the dealers through whose shops it 

 passed to the public, and it poisoned 

 the customers who dealt at those shops. 

 After the milk supply was stopped the 

 epidemic died out. At Possil Park 

 Dr Christie reports that there were 92 

 other cases, 97 per cent, of which ob- 

 tained their milk from implicated milk. 



Probable exciting cause. — Human 

 source. 



Reporter and reference. — Dr J. B. 

 Russell (Med. Off. of Health). Brit. 



Med. Jour.^ 1880, vol. i., pp. 985 and 

 864. 



Rochdale, 1880 {SepUmber). 



Total nimiber of cases . . 35 



Deaths 9 



Number of cases amongst 



drinkers of suspected milk . 26 



Percentage on total cases . . 74 



Circumstances implicating the milk 

 sup>ply. — Defective well supplied water 

 for dairj' purposes. The excreta from 

 a case of typhoid was thrown into a 

 leaky cess-pool, and from this cess- 

 pool the dip of the soil inclined 

 towards the farm well. Incidence of 

 disease followed drinkers of milk from 

 this farm a fortnight after the case of 

 typhoid. Evidence to show that not 

 improbably the milk was also adulter- 

 ated with water from this well. 



Probable exciting cause. — Human 

 source. 



Reporter and reference. — Dr J. 

 Henry (Med. Off. of Health). Brit. 

 Med. Jour., 1880, vol. ii., p. 597. 



Penzance, 1880 {January). 



Total nimiber of cases . . 26 



Deaths 4 



Number of cases amongst 



drinkers of suspected milk . 26 



Percentage on total cases . . 100 



Circumstances implicating the milk 

 sup>piy. — Three cases of typhoid, one 

 of them fatal, at the farm supplying 

 the milk. The same person who 

 milked the cows and did the dairying 

 work nursed the patients and washed 

 their clothes for several weeks. All the 

 cases of typhoid were drinkers of milk 

 from this farm. Members of families 

 who escaped for one reason or another 

 did not drink implicated milk. 



Probable exciting cause. — Human 

 source. 



Reporter and reference. — Dr G. B. 

 Millett (Med. Off. of Health). BHt. 

 Med. Jour., 1880, vol. ii., p. 37. 



