478 MILK 



ing or deep burying, and disinfection of the gutters and floor; 

 5, isolation of all cows known to be infected with abortion; 6, 

 when possible, treatment of all heifers and cows about two months 

 before breeding with a vaccine composed of hve abortion germs." 



Whether Bacillus abortus is infectious for human beings is a 

 matter that has not yet been clearly demonstrated. The evi- 

 dence available does not justify the assumption of its pathogen- 

 icity for man, although some authors (Larsen and Sedgwick) 

 think there is reason for suspicion. Of interest in this connection 

 is a study of Miss Evans, comparing Bacillus abortus with B. 

 melitensis. The author found considerable resemblance between 

 the two organisms both by cultural and immunologic methods. 

 Since the organism is not infrequently contained in milk, such milk 

 should be excluded from the market or be pasteurized. 



Gastro-enteritis. — Milk from cows suffering from gastro-intes- 

 tinal distm-bances becomes thin, bluish, and acquires a bitter 

 taste. It may be the cause of similar distmrbances ia man and 

 should be excluded from public supplies. 



Malta Fever. — Although Malta fever is a disease of goats 

 and not of cows, it is of sufficient importance to merit mention. 

 The disease occurs on the island of Malta and other islands of 

 the Mediterranean and along the coast. It is also reported from 

 India, South Africa, the Philippine Islands, the West Indies, and 

 in some parts of this continent. The virus is contained in goat's 

 milk and is communicated through goat's milk to man. The 

 disease runs a slow, long-drawn-out course, and is characterized 

 by headache, rheimiatism-like affection of the joints, constipa- 

 tion, and anemia. It is rarely fatal, the fatalities, being about 

 2 or 3 per cent. The causal factor is Bacillus mehtensis, also 

 called Micrococcus melitensis. It has been estimated that the 

 milk of 10 per cent, of the goats in Malta contains the organisms, 

 while the blood of 50 per cent, has agglutinative properties. 



Cholera infantum is frequently classed as a milk-borne disease, 

 and some authorities still hold that milk is the chief, if not the 

 only, cause of this disease. Cholera infantum occurs most often 

 during warm weather, and is largely responsible for the high 

 death-rate among infants. Cholera infantum is more common 

 among bottle-fed than among breast-fed babies, but modern scien- 

 tific methods of artificial feeding of infants has tended to gradu- 

 ally reduce the high mortality resulting from summer diarrhea. 

 There are authorities who believe that artificial feeding may be 

 perfected to such a degree that the rate of infant mortaUty among 

 bottle-fed babies will be very materially decreased. 



Since bottle-fed infants are frequently given cow's milk as a 

 substitute for human milk, and since there are more deaths 



