View report page

6
same day. The medical officer of health of Stepney reported that the source of
infection was attributed to a shaving brush purchased in that borough. The stock
(16 dozen) from which this brush was sold had been obtained in January, 1931, and
the country of origin was not marked. The brushes were made of goat's hair. Some
had been sold to shopkeepers and the remainder retailed to customers who could not
be traced. Two dozen of the brushes, together with those used by the deceased and
his brother, were examined bacteriologically by the Ministry of Health with the
following result:—"brushes used by deceased; both the free hairs and the resin
embedded stump gave moderate numbers of anthrax colonies, i.e., there is a strong
presumption that the infection of the brush was primary and not secondary. The
two dozen brushes were examined in four batches of six for economy. Each batch
yielded abundant colonies of virulent anthrax bacilli, i.e., in each batch at least one
brush was anthrax infected which is sufficient to condemn the lot."
With a view to preventing the continued sale of anthrax-infected brushes, full
particulars of this case were circulated to the medical officers of health of the metropolitan
boroughs and contiguous areas. As a result of this circular a number of the
brushes were recovered and destroyed.
The case in Lambeth was that of a butcher (aged 23) employed at the central
meat market, Smithfield. The medical officer of health of Lambeth reported that
the patient developed a pustule on his hand on the morning of 21st September. In
the evening there was a considerable degree of inflammation sufficient to arouse
suspicion of anthrax. He was removed to King's College hospital where Sclavo's
serum was administered. His condition rapidly improved under treatment. The
condition was definitely due to a "malignant pustule," but efforts to isolate the
bacillus anthracis from the pustule were unsuccessful. No source of infection could
be traced in Lambeth, and although anthrax rarely occurs in pigs there was just the
possibility that the patient had scratched his hand with the nose-ring of a pig carcase
in the course of his employment.
The Shoreditch patient was a male, aged 23, employed as a wool sorter. The
borough medical officer of health reported that the man had handled English and
American hair, and so was probably infected in the course of his employment. The
patient was removed to St. Bartholomew's hospital, treated with Sclavo's serum and
made a complete recovery. A bacteriological examination was made but no bacilli
were detected in serum from the vesicle.
Smallpox.