[Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow.

  • Glasgow (Scotland)
Date:
1960
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    22/426 (page 20)
    There was an increase in the number of vessels carrying alien passengers and in the number of aliens landed at the port. There were no rejections on medical grounds. Close co-operation is maintained with H.M. Immigration Officers in the examination of these passengers, and every assistance was given by the shipping companies. Inspection and reinspection of vessels arriving in the port revealed a number of defects in the crew accommodation. The majority of these defects were remedied before the vessels left the area but in some instances it was necessary to communicate with the owners or the Port Health Authority at the next port of call in the United Kingdom to have the work completed. Special observations are taken on hygiene and sanitation of the dock area, including such matters as the condition of canteens, the drainage systems, the refuse collection and disposal. The control of rat infestation in ships and on the dockside is an important duty of the Port Health Authority, and during the year 329 rats were destroyed, 259 on board foreign going ships, as a result of fumigation or of trapping. As is usual specimens of rats were submitted to the City Bacteriologist for examination and detection of the bacillus of plague. The results for years have been consistently negative. International certificates relating to the control of rat infestation in ships were issued to 465 vessels. Of the 24 deratting certificates 17 were granted after the vessels were fumigated and the remaining 7 after the vessels had been cleared by Gapping. Certificates are issued after examination to new vessels and also to vessels berthed at the outlying quays at Ardrossan, Bowling, Finnart, Gareloch, Irvine, Old Kilpatrick and Troon. In four vessels which were being fumigated to qualify for deratting certificates the concentration of gas and periods of exposure were increased at the request of the Department of Agri- culture. In the case of one vessel where methyl bromide was employed in one hold 18 oz. per 1,000 cubic foot were used for a period of eighteen hours for the destruction of food insect pests in the cargo space. Vessels arriving at the shipbreakers’ yards were searched on arrival but deratting was unnecessary as no evidence of rodent infestation was found. Rodent control certificates were issued to 47 coastal vessels during the year. The degree of rat infestation in coastal vessels has been reduced to a very low level with the co-operation and assistance of the owners. The degree of mice infestation of vessels from Burma has been brought to the notice of shipping companies in that area who have agreed to carry out methods to eliminate these pests when opportunity occurs.