RABIES 91 



must not be used for food for man or beast. The owner 

 may dispose of milk from the healthy members of the 

 herd in so far as the sanitary police give no other 

 order unhindered, under the condition that he pledges 

 himself to observe closely the condition of the health of 

 the herd and to separate at once those animals which 

 show suspicious symptoms, such as lack of appetite, 

 cessation of rumination, diminution of milk yield and 

 the like. Milk from animals that are separated must 

 not be mixed with that of the healthy animals. ' ' 



The health authorities may, however, have good rea- 

 son to forbid the sale of unboiled milk in cases when the 

 disease breaks out violently in a herd, as then the danger 

 exists that bacilli may enter the milk when it is drawn, 

 for the sick animals excrete bacilli with the bloody ex- 

 crement and the stable, in spite of all care and disinfec- 

 tion, may be so thoroughly infected that there is the 

 possibility of contaminating the milk. 



e. Rabies. The virus of rabies, yet unknown, is espe- 

 cially associated with the central nervous system and the 

 salivary glands. Frequently it may be found in other 

 glands and even in the udder. A number of observa- 

 tions by Nocard, Perroncito, Bardach and several others, 

 have proven that the virus may be secreted with the milk. 

 All attempts to convey the disease to healthy animals, 

 through food containing infectious material, have thus 

 far resulted negatively, and hence numerous opinions 

 have been expressed to the effect that there is apparently 

 no danger to man in the use of milk from cows that have 

 been bitten by a mad dog and that are themselves rabid. 



Yet, since the possibility is always present that infec- 

 tion may occur through a slight lesion of the mouth or 

 pharynx, milk from cows infected with rabies (cows 

 that have been bitten by rabid dogs) is to be regarded 

 as most dangerous to health. 



