Explosive Epidemic of Sonne Dysentery

Abstract

The first 30 cases noticed, all used milk from one dairy. However, milk from the same source was also distributed by another retailer whose customers included few cases. Later, many cases occurred in all parts of the town and Bacterium sonnei was isolated from the inadequately chlorinated water supply. At the suspected dairy the steam-sterilized milk bottles were rinsed with cold tap water and may thus have been contaminated.