Milk Scarlatina.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 810, 9 September 1887, Page 10

Milk Scarlatina.

A SUGGESTIVE LECTURE. WHAT NEXT’ Dr Klein, F.R.S., delivered a lecture on Friday, May 27, at the Royal Institution, on the subject of cow’s milk as a source of scarlatina. The chief points of the lecture may thus be summarised. Experience has shown that perfect sanitary conditions in a house are no guarantee against an outbreak of scarlet fever, and that such outbreaks, when epidemic, are rather to be traced to some imported element of contagion, such as has been found to exist in the milk supply. The question then arises as to how the jnilk .may become infected. In some cases it was manifest that the milk was contaminated by infection from human beings, as where, for instance, a dairy closely adjoined a house in which scarlet fever had existed for several weeks, and the milk f was carried in open cans across a yard where the children played while in a state of desquamation. But there were other cases in which it was evident that the milk had not been infected by human agency. Cases reported in 1882 by Dr Darbishire and Mr Power were referred to in proof of this; and then came the remarkable case of scarlatina produced by the milk from the Hendon dairy. In this dairy there were certain cows affected with a visceral disease much resembling that present in human scarlatina, though of a milder character ; they had also sores on the skin, with loss of hair in patches, and ulcerations on the udder and teats. That the matter of these ulcers was possessed of infective power was proved by the fact that when it waa in-

oculatedinto the skin of calves similar ulcers were reproduced. Furthermore, it was shown that these ulcers contained in large numbers a species of micrococcus, which when placed in nutritive media produced in a few days a crop of micrococci, possessed of characters which clearly distinguish them from other bacteria. Calves inoculated with a cultivation of this micrococcus became, after an incubation period, affected with a cutaneous and visceral disease exactly like that of the Hendon cows. To make the proof complete, however, a further experiment was necessary. Were these micrococci present in the blood and .tissues of human beings affected with scarlatina 1 It was found that they were, and identical in microscopical and cultural characteristics with the micrococci of the Hendou cows. Cultivations of both sets, from man and cow, produced the same effect on animals when inoculated, and the blood and tissues of the animals thus infected gave the same micrococcus in their turn. It appeared to the lecturer, therefore, to be established that this microbe, the Micrococcus scarlatinre, is the cause of human scarlet fever, and of its bovine equivalent, and that thus, while the cow can be infected by man, man in his turn can be infected by the cow. A striking additional piece of evidence had been afforded. A particular brand of condensed milk was under suspicionbf having produced scarlet fever in those who partook of it. This milk had probably not been sufficiently heated; for every tin opened contained organisms of some sort, and in one tin the microbe of scarlet fever was present. Now, no micrococci can survive a temperature of 212° Fahr., and most are killed by an exposure 'to ISO° or 190°:; and thus the deficient heating was shown. Another interesting piece of evidence was afforded at the beginning of the present year by an epidemic of scarlet fever which broke out at Wimbledon. This epidemic was traced to the milk supplied from a particular farm, and among those affected was a pet monkey who had consumed a good deal of this milk. It died after five days, and from its blood Dr Klein obtained, by cultivation, the same micrococcus as was obtained from human scarlet fever, from the Hendon cows, and from the tin of condensed milk. In conclusion, the lecturer considered the question—how is the spread of scarlet fever by milk to be controlled and checked ? First, it is necessary to prevent infection of the cow by man ; next, of the cow by the cow ; and lastly, to destroy the contagium of the milk. He considered that every dairy should be permanently under the supervision of an expert, and lamented that the veterinary profession were not as yet alive to the importance of the subject. As to the destruction of the contagium, he gave an instance of immunity enjoyed by those who scalded their milk in an infected district. He therefore strongly urged the necessity of heating milk to at least 158° before being consumed. Cream has been the vehicle of contagion, and cannot be snbjected to heat ; but, putting aside this, there was no doubt that by scalding the milk the number of scarlet fever cases would be reduced by a very large percentage. The lecture was illustrated by demonstrations of the Micrococcus scarlatinas, cultivated in various ways, and obtained from the the several sources indicated. In connection with this subject it may be mentioned that in May of the present year e report was presented to the Privy Council which had been prepared by Professor Axe, of the Royal Veterinary College. In submiting this report, Professor Brown, of the Agricultural Department, observes that it is a most important one, because it ‘ deals especially with the. identical malady among the herd of Derby cows, three of which introduced the disease into the Hendon dairy.’ The conclusion at yhich Professor Axe arrives is thus stated : Five dairies were infected with a disease directly or indirectly derived from the Derby cows, but scarlatina was unknown in the customers of four of them, 1 and theinference becomes irresistible that the London epidemic which has been imputed to the fifth had its origin in some obscure source connected with the dairy by channels which inquiry has failed to reveal.’ Professor Brown, in his observations, refers to the discovery by Dr Klein of the micrococcus, and that the introduction of this organism from the human subject into the system of the calf causes a disease identical with that observed in the Hendon cows ; but he considers that the last link in the chain of the argument, viz., proof that inoculation with the matter from the ulcers of the cow disease will produce human scarlatina, is wanting.

In the council meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society, the lecture of Dr Klein above noticed, and the report of Professor Axe, with Professor Brown’s observations, were all referred to, anil after some conversation on the subject it was suggested by the President (Lord Egerton of Tatton) that it would be advisable for the society, to ask the Government to hold an inquiry into this matter, such inquiry to be conducted by the Agricultural Department of the Privy Council.