ASIATIC CHOLERA 117 



tractor then sent his milk to other consumers, who then 

 contracted scarlet fever." 



Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts, 1901. The num- 

 ber of cases was 60, all resulting from one polluted 

 source. " The dairyman in this outbreak produced 5 

 cans of milk daily and obtained 14 other cans from 3 

 neighbors. On one of these 3 farms, 3 children had been 

 ill ; a girl of 16 had sore throat, another girl of 12 and a 

 boy of 14 followed a few days later with a similar affec- 

 tion, namely, swelling of the glands in the neck, and gen- 

 eral malaise. One of them had a slight rash. After the 

 recovery from acute condition they assisted in handling 

 the milk. The outbreak was very sudden, and promptly 

 declined from a time dating a few days after the milk 

 supply from the farm was stopped. The fatality was 

 high, as many as 11 deaths occurring. The distribution 

 of the cases of scarlet fever was localized to the distri- 

 bution of the milk in question." L. P.] 



d. Asiatic cholera. From what we now know of the 

 epidemiology of cholera it cannot be doubted that the 

 spread of the germs of cholera is due chiefly to drinking 

 water ; nevertheless the possibility of its spread through 

 milk and other foods cannot be left out of consideration. 

 Examples of transmission through milk are certainly 

 not numerous ; one of the best established is the follow- 

 ing reported by Simpson : On board a ship in the harbor 

 of Calcutta, 10 persons fell victims to cholera after 

 drinking milk sold by a native. Four patients died, 5 

 others were seriously ill, and one who drank but little 

 of the milk was slightly affected. It was learned that 

 the milk had been diluted with water from a tank into 

 which the excrement of a cholera patient had been 

 thrown a few days before. Among those who did not 

 drink the milk there was no illness. 



Simpson was able also to trace a small cholera epi- 



