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29
COWSHEDS, DAIRIES AND MILKSHOPS.
There are seven registered Cowsheds in the Borough and 138
Dairies and Milkshops.
A very thorough inspection of all these premises was made in
1906, a special report was made on them, many defects were
remedied, and improvements in the storage of milk obtained.
During the past year frequent inspections have been made to see
that the improved conditions were maintained.
Only one case of polluted milk occurred during the year, this
was in November, when a churn of milk just delivered by rail
was reported to have a very unpleasant odour, and apparently was
unfit for food. It was brought to the Town Hall and examined
in the Laboratory, where it was found to contain an enormous
number of germs in the form of Streptococci; even a single drop
showed large numbers of these micro-organisms. The milk was
condemned and destroyed, and accompanied by a Veterinary
Surgeon, the farm supplying the milk was visited and a thorough
inspection of the premises and the cows, 55 in number, was made.
No satisfactory explanation of the occurrence could be found.
It was stated that all the milk obtained from this large number of
cows was mixed ; if this was the case, it seems impossible for the
infection to have been derived either from the cows or from the
water supply, for in either case the whole of the milk should have
been affected. As only one churn out of a large number was
polluted, it seems to indicate that this particular churn had
received some chance infection. In the course of the investigation
it was discovered that one of the milkers was absent owing to
" blood poisoning" following an injury to his hand; it is possible
that this may have been the source of infection of the particular
churn, though impossible to prove it. Although the actual source
could not be traced, visits to these farms are of value and tend to
cause more care to be taken in maintaining the cleanliness of the
cows, utensils and surroundings, a high standard of which is
absolutely necessary in dealing with so important a food as milk.
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