176 BACTERIA IN MILK 
bacilli for a long time; “bacillus carriers”? they are called. In 
other cases the patient may be so slightly sick with the disease as 
to keep about his work, having what is called “walking typhoid.” 
If people from either of these classes are employed in the dairy, 
they will be pretty sure to infect with typhoid fever germs what- 
ever dairy utensils they handle. (2) Patients who are sick enough 
to be confined in bed eliminate large numbers of bacilli in their 
excretion, and this, together with clothing soiled by it, may be 
carelessly handled by some one who is employed in the dairy. 
The chance of milk infection from such persons is, then, very great, 
and no one who has anything to do with the care of a typhoid 
fever patient should be allowed to have any contact with the dairy. 
(3) Infected water is a common source of contamination. This 
does not mean that the milk is necessarily watered; but milk may 
become infected by rinsing the cans in such water after they have 
been washed. There are also other secondary sources. That 
the danger from these sources is real and not imaginary, may be 
judged from the fact that already at least three hundred typhoid 
epidemics have been traced to milk. 
Scarlet Fever, Septic Sore Throat and Diphtheria-—There is 
positive evidence that these diseases may be distributed by milk 
and that some epidemics are attributable to the milk-supply. 
The cause of scarlet fever is yet uncertain, and it is not known 
whether cows can contract the disease and then produce milk 
already contaminated, or whether, as in typhoid fever, the con- 
tamination of the milk is wholly secondary. <A few epidemics of 
scarlet fever have been traced to the cow with more or less cer- 
tainty, and it is beyond doubt also that the milk may become in- 
fected with the cause of this disease by secondary contamination. 
The same thing is true in regard to septic sore throat, a disease 
closely related to scarlet fever, and claimed by some to be identical 
with it. The farmer should, therefore, take precautions to pre- 
vent any person from working in the dairy who is recovering from 
scarlet fever or sore throat. 
