Brief notes on the outbreak of plague in the Jammu province, Kashmir State, during 1901 / by B. R. Sawhney.

  • Sawhney, B. R.
Date:
1901
    ON THE OUTBREAK OF PLAGUE, IN TriE JAMMU PROVINCE, KASHMIR STAM-TiEL DURING 1901. m mm ■ INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. On Plague having been reported in village Damian, Gurdaspur District, by the Commissioner o£ Lahore, to the Resident in Kashmir, and by him to the Jammu Durbar, the Chief Medical Officer, Jammu, Dr. B. R. Sawhney, accompanied by two State officials, a Ilospital Assistant and a Compounder, proceeded, on 4th November 1900, to Nanga, a State village opposite Damian, and some 4 miles from it. Here Dr. Sawhney made careful enquiries, but failed to discover auy Plague in the Jammu border. After putting a Hospital Assistant at Nanga with instructions to carefully observe all near villages, and placing observation posts on certain parts of the border, lie returned to Jammu. These posts although in themselves of not much intrinsic value, proved of good moral effect in prevent- ing people from the infected villages going over to healthy villages in any material number. * A 3 On his returning from Kashmir, the Superintending Surgeon, Kashmir Hospitals, Lt.-Col. Joshua Duke, i.m.s?, Residency Surgeon, Kashmir, visited Nanga, on Novem- ber 23rd, with the same object. After his return to Jammu, on 28th November, the Superintending Surgeon called a Special Committee
    Meeting, under the Presidency of General Raja Sir Araar Singh, k.c.s.i., to consider the measures to be adopted (1) With a view to prevention of Plague. (2) The measures necessary should Plague breakout. On December 1st, 1900, the State Council met and passed a Resolution sanctioning an extra grant of Rs. 10,000 (since increased to Rs. 27,000) to meet the extraordinary expenses connected with the adoption of preventive measures with respect to Plague; sanctioning recommendations of the Special Committee, and ordering steps being taken immediately to give effect to the same. Observation work started. The number of Plague infected villages on the British side having in the meantime increased, at first 3, and later on 5 observation posts were established in the threatened area, on the State border for collection of information regarding the health of the villages in danger of infection. All villages within a radius of 5 miles of each post were inspected regularly by Plague Officers, Medical and Civil, who were required to make a report at once of the occurrence in any of them of any suspicious or actual cases of Plague, and to adopt promptly such measures to destroy the first focus or foci of infection, as they could there and then. People trained in the mode of self-preservation from Plague. At the same time, notices in Urdu and Dogra characters were printed and widely circulated in the Province, warning the people against Plague, naming the infected villages and describing briefly the symptoms of Bubonic Plague and dangers of conceal- ment of Plague cases. The Plague observing officers kept making daily rounds in different State villages, near the British infected area, in view to educating the people as to the dangers of receiving in their midst without certain sale- guards, people or property from infected places. In this training work they were largely supplemented personally both by the Superintending Surgeon and the Chief Medi- cal Officer, who made/frequent rounds in the villages in imminent danger of infection. To this measure of education of the people which extended oyer months is
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