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that further, as I had already been in communication with the
vendor sending the infected milk into the districts, I should impress
on him in writing the necessity of giving his personal supervision
to pasteurizing all milk before it left his premises, and further that
he should at once have all his employees, their wives, children and
houses medically examined, and to send no milk from the suspected
area into our district; this he informed me by letter on the 19th he
had done. On June 18th 11 cases were notified in Coombe; by the
22nd 18 cases in all were reported, all supplied from one dairy,
situated outside the district, but receiving milk from the iniected
area.
On June 22nd, with Mr. Still, the Veterinary Surgeon to the
Council, I personally examined every cow in the district, 125 cows
and heifers. 119 were found to be perfectly healthy, six were
found to be suffering from vesicular eruption on their teats, and as
a precaution these were isolated; I took swabs from these and had
them examined bacteriologically, with a negative result, so that
these were harmless vesicles due to irritation, and not vesicles of
the same character as reported by Prof. Klein on the teats of the
cows in the Hendon epidemic in 1885.
During the epidemic I visited the Burlington Road Schools
daily, examined and excluded 120 children; 112 suffered from sore
throat, and 8 scarlet fever.
The prompt communication with the vendor of the milk, by
telephone, on the 16th, giving him the first information of milk
infection; and the confirmation of the disease by bacteriological
examination placed the Health Department in a position to take
direct and prompt measures to prevent a further spread of the
disease.
DIPHTHERIA.
Twenty-five cases of Diphtheria, all notified in New Maiden;
nineteen were treated at the Infectious Hospital, Tolworth, and
six in their own homes.
Two deaths were notified; both cases were treated at home.