TYPHOID FEVER 109 



fec'ted with typhoid fever on the dairy farm first 

 infected, on tlie farm upon which the creamery was sit- 

 uated and on 4 otlier farms, only one farm remaining 

 exempt. Through contagion, the disease was carried 

 from these farms to 7 other families and 14 more per- 

 sons became affected. 



Hart's and Freeman's collections of the milk epi- 

 demics in the literature gave an idea of the importance 

 of this method of transmission of typhoid fever. Hart 

 collected the established milk epidemics from 1S57-S1 

 and found accounts of 51, with .^.jOO eases of the disease 

 and SfjO deaths, while Freeman found .j.'] epidemics from 

 1SS0-9G. The number of milk ei)ideiiiics observed since 

 then is i)roi)ortionately greater, no doubt because this 

 means of transmission is better known and, therefore, is 

 more fre(|uently recognized than before. 



Wliiie in the case of some epi<leiiiics it is (piite easy 

 to prove that the infection of tbt- milk came fiom a sick 

 person working with the milk, in otliei- cases evei-ything 

 points to the i)roducing farm as tbe seat of infection, but 

 may not I'eveal (be ultinuite origin of the contagion. Tn 

 such cases attempts have been made to trace the infec- 

 tion to a disease of (he cows, but without sound basis, 

 for no instance is known wherein domestic animals ha\e 

 suffered from any disease caused by the typhoid 

 bacillus. 



P^rom our knowledge of the ei)idemiology of typhoid 

 fever, it may be said with assurance that milk may be 

 infected with typhoid bacilli through the addition of 

 water (in washing the vessels or through adulteration 

 with water) or Iiy bacteria from i^atients or conva- 

 lescents. 



It is a well known fact that many epidemics of this 

 disease ha\i' been traced to infection from impure drink- 

 ing water, and it is self evident that milk, which is favor- 



