Page 11 - Microsoft Word -Cow Book 10-06-09 final update.doc

CHAPTER 1

Since milk is a food substance with the characteristics of high nutrients it also
has the qualities and properties to readily support microbial growth. Milk cows
on the farm are exposed to many sources of potential contamination. Some
of these contaminants may be the water or food source; exposure to manure;
flies and other insects; contact with diseased animals in the housing or corral
areas; injuries to the udder; poor milking practices; mal-adjusted milking ma-
chines; and contamination during calving or treatment.

Early indications and studies implicated milk as the vehicle of many communi-
cable diseases to the consumer. Some of the most notable outbreaks were
tuberculosis and brucellosis a bacterial disease caused by Brucella abortus
(Undulant Fever), salmonellosis, diphtheria, scarlet fever, septic sore throat
and the dysenteries of the food infection type. More recently, Salmonella,
Listeria, Staphylococcus aureus, Yersinia, and Campylobacter have been
responsible for human illnesses due to the consumption of unpasteurized or
contaminated milk and milk products. Q fever (Coxiella burnetii) a febrile
rickettsial illness is also known as one of the pathogens responsible for milk
borne outbreaks. This organism was responsible for the 1957 enactment of
more stringent pasteurization requirements.

Massachusetts in 1856 developed the first milk control laws. Later New York
City adopted standards (1901) in order to handle some of the unsanitary
problems found in many of the “slop dairies”, which were using brewery grain
wastes for feeding. Chicago became the first city to require pasteurization in
1908. It was not until 1924 when the State of Alabama in conjunction with the
United States Public Health Service (USPHS) developed the first Federal Milk
Code. This was the first effort to standardize the milk regulations into a
national code.

Many states followed suit and adopted similar regulations to control the ever
increasing number of small dairy farms throughout the nation from a sanitary
aspect. This first "PMO" was published by the USPHS and made available to
the interested municipalities and states for adoption as state law.

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