Reports and papers on suspected cases of human plague in East Suffolk and on an epizootic of plague in rodents.

  • Great Britain. Local Government Board.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Reports and papers on suspected cases of human plague in East Suffolk and on an epizootic of plague in rodents. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    witli the rest of the public and with local authorities, and consequently in some localities rat destruction has not been uniformly practised. The Board, as soon as it became known that rat destruction was not being carried out uniformly, issued an Order con- ferring power on local authorities to take measures for the destruction of rats, and making it the duty of a local authority, when a representation was made to it that its district was affected or threatened with plague, to take measures to destroy all rats within its district. The Order and circular which accompanied it are reprinted on pp. 68 and 69. The complete destruction of rats in a district may be regarded as a counsel of perfection, but the thinning out of rats, if main- tained, diminishes risk to mankind, apart from the incidental economic gain thus secured. The sparser the rat popula- tion, the less risk is there of spread of infection in rodents, or of its occasional transmission to man. In the infected districts effort has not been so generally devoted to two lines of action, which are of equal importance to, if not of greater importance than, the direct destruction of rats. These are—action directed towards making eacli house rat-proof, so far as underground invasion is concerned, and action calcu- lated to prevent the access of rats to corn stacks and to other supplies of food. It is probable that the number of rats in a district is conditioned by the amount of food available for them; and that the indirect attack on rats by starvation may be even more successful than direct attack by destruction. The only method likely to be completely successful is that which combines measures for direct destruction of rats with measures for prevent- ing them from obtaining access to food supplies. Should experience show that individual owners and occupiers refrain from heljiing local authorities in destroying rats on their premises, and in rendering their premises and food stores fairly safe against invasion by rats, the question will arise whether powers to compel such assistance should not be emi)loved by local authorities. Belimixation Investigation. Early in December last, examination of rats from various districts had shown that the infection of rats by plague was practically limited to an area embracing the districts in the » amtord and A\oodbridge Unions. The importance of confirm- ing this conclusion was obvious; and for this purpose a systematic examination of rats derived from a belt of country surrounding le known infected area was arranged. The rats thus examined were derived from sanitary areas in the following Unions: — Uomesgate, Blything, Hoxne, Hartismere, Stow, Thingoe, Mulbury, Lexden and Winstree, Colchester, Tendring, Halstead, raintree, and Maldon. These areas, as will be seen from mspectiou of the map facing page vi., form a continuous belt •iiound the infected districts. The Board having obtained the necessary authority from the ireasiiry tor the expenditure, the arrangements for collecting