[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London].

  • London (England). Port Health Authority.
Date:
1919
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    16/62 (page 12)
    12 Three cases and some suspected cases came under treatment in Denton Hospital ; of the latter only one was a case of serious illness and suspicion. Of the three cases of Plague one died and two recovered. One member of the crew under surveillance outside the Port Sanitary District was taken ill after leaving the ship, on the 29th May, and died of Plague on 2nd June. A total of 172 rats were found dead on the ship at Gravesend before and after fumigation ; the death of 103 of these is ascribable to the rat plague existing on board. One of the ship's cats was found to have been affected by Plague and was recovering at the time it was caught and killed. Ninety-seven rats were trapped or found dead on the voyage. The ship was completely fumigated, after discharge of cargo on the 2nd June, by means of the Clayton apparatus. The circumstances of the outbreak of Plague on the s.s. Somali were communicated in a technical report to the Local Government Board on the 23th June. s.s. Hector, crew 59, arrived at Gravesend on August 8th from Calcutta via Suez. Four cases of Plague was removed to Denton Hospital on the 8th, having been first taken ill on July 27th and 31st, August the 3rd and 5th, respectively. A fifth case was taken ill on the 15th on board and was removed to Denton Hospital. All five cases ended in recovery. At Port Said about the 12th July some dozen dead rats were thrown out from the poop space and food store. No significance was attached to the finding of dead rats. The cargo was not attractive to rats and the holds were correspondingly free, the store room in the poop was the focus of infection. The steward, steward's boy, and three inhabitants of the poop were the only persons affected. One half the crew was paid off and put under surveillance: direct contacts and the remainder of the crew were retained on board under observation. The total notifications, inclusive of ship workers, were 173 in number. Very few rats were found after fumigation; the total found dead on discharge of cargo was sixteen. The facts were fully and technically reported to the Local Government Board.