A WATER-BORNE EPIDEMIC OF TYPHOID FEVER: ISOLATION OF THE TYPHOID BACILLUS FROM THE CONTAMINATED SUPPLY

BERKELEY, CALIF. A water-borne epidemic of typhoid fever numbering fifty-two cases with no fatalities recently occurred in a camp at the San Pablo Dam, Contra Costa County, Calif. The interesting factors noted were:1. A perfectly equipped laboring camp with one decidedly glaring error from an engineering and hygienic standpoint, namely, a dual water supply, neither of the sources of which had been examined bacteriologically.2. A short incubation period in four cases.3. The history of water not being drunk, coupled with the interesting information obtained of brushing the teeth, cleansing the mouth and washing the hands.4. The large number of ambulatory cases, nineteen, in view of the number of known cases, fifty-two.5. The isolation of the typhoid bacillus from the feces of two patients, the serum of one having continuously yielded a suggestive Widal and the other a negative.6. The isolation, from the diluted sewage