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it was found that cases had also occurred in Chiswick amongst
customers of the same dairy. I accompanied the Sanitary
Inspector of Chiswick to the dairy for the purpose of making
inquiries. It was found that, though a case of Scarlet Fever
had occurred in the family of one the employees of the dairy,
it was improbable, if not impossible, for the infection to have
arisen in the dairy.
When the dairy was visited it was found that the milk
was being pasteurised, and the manager was advised to continue
to pasteurize until further inquiries had been made.
Under Section 15 of the Acton Improvement Act, if the
Medical Officer of Health shall have reasonable cause to believe
that any person in the district is suffering from infectious
disease attributable to milk supplied within the district, he may,
by notice in writing, require every person supplying milk to the
person so suffering, or to the house of which he is an inmate,
to furnish him with a list of all farms, dairies or places from
which such person derives his supply of milk, or from which
he has derived his supply during the last six weeks.
The list of farms was readily given. All the farms were
situated in Berkshire, and I immediately communicated with
Dr. Taylor, the Medical Officer of Health for the County.
Before mid-day on April 25th Dr. Taylor had found on
one of the farms a person suffering from Scarlet Fever. The
patient was sent home, and the dairy refused to receive the
milk from that farm pending further inquiries. Only two
primary cases were notified amongst customers of this particular
dairy after April 25th, and one of these had sickened on
April 22nd.
Briefly, these were the circumstances in which the outbreak
occurred, and the action that was taken, and in the following
report the connection between the cases and the milk supply
is set forth.