London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of London 1922
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]
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The distribution of rats found dead is as follows :—No. 1 hold, 76 ; No. 2, 7 ;
No. 3, 1 ; No. 4, 6 ; Top bunker, 2 ; 54 of the 76 found in No. 1 hold were dead in
the bilges and found on lifting the limbers. It is possible that these were imprisoned
by the bulk grain on loading and died of carbon dioxide suffocation, the
irrespirable gas being generated in the subtle respiratory process of the grain.
The numbers found during the voyage in the stokehold and bunkers suggests
the stokehold as watering place and that the hold spaces were not open to access
by the rats by reason of bulk cargo. The other rats were mostly found in the
'tween decks to which access was possible through a moveable wooden bulkhead
between the bunkers and 'tween decks. The deceased man was working in the
bunkers a few days before he was taken ill.
No suspicious rat of sufficient freedom from putrefaction for satisfactory
bacteriological examination was discovered, so that the absolute diagnosis, by
discovery of the plague bacillus, was not made. The clinical evidence of plague
infection, however, was unequivocal. The history of the swellings in the neck of
the patient and in a cat, the axillary swelling in another cat and the ample evidence
of rat mortality formed a group of circumstances without other reasonable explanation
than that of plague infection.
ss. " Bradbourne " alleged to have lain near the " Porthia " in Rosario and
bringing grain cargo to London was very carefully inspected during discharge in
the port and no evidence of rat mortality whatever obtained.
This vessel had been disinfected at Port Arthur, Texas, by means of cyanide
in July, 1922. Three rats only were alleged to have been found as a result of that
fumigation. Traces of rats were very scanty during the stay of the vessel in London
(3rd to 9th December) during which a daily examination was made. Two rats were
trapped and none found dead.
TABLE VI.—S mallpox.
| Date. 1922. | Name of Vessel, Port of Registry and Official No. | Where from. | No. of Cases. | How dealt with. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 12 | ss. " Dongola " of Glasgow, 121,270. | China | 2 | 1 landed Singapore, 1 at Colombo. |
| „ 15 | ss. " City of Exeter," Glasgow, 137,297. | Calcutta | 1 | Landed at Suez. |
| „ 27 | ss. " Egypt," of Greenock, 105,581. | Shanghai | 2 | Landed at Singapore. |
| Mar. 20 | ss. " Newby Hall," of Liverpool, 120,848. | Ditto | 2 | Landed at Yokohama. |
| „ 28 | ss. " Nagoya," of Greenock, 135,237. | Kobe | 2 | 1 died on board, 1 landed Colombo. |
| Apr. 13 | ss. " Pyrrhus," of Liverpool, 137,410. | Ditto | 1 | Landed at Shanghai. |
| „ 19 | ss. " Glenavy," of Glasgow, 137,855. | Shanghai | 1 | Ditto. |
| „ 24 | ss. " Khiva," of Liverpool, 135,533. | Yokohama | 1 | Landed at Kobe. |
| May 26 | ss. " Morea," of Glasgow, 128,235. | Bombay | 1 | Landed at Port Said. |
| June 20 | ss. " Plassy," of Greenock, 109,259. | Yokohama | 1 | Landed at Yokohama. |
| Aug. 3 | ss. " La Paz," of Liverpool, 143,671. | Africa | 2 | Landed at Panama. |
| „ 12 | ss. " Clan Murray," of Glasgow, 141,894. | Bombay | 1 | Landed at Fremantle. |
| Total | 17 |
SMALLPOX.
ss. "City of Exeter" arrived from Calcutta on the 14th February. On the
25th January, a native cook was taken ill with symptoms suspicious of smallpox.
Patient was landed at Suez on February 1st. A message received from Suez later
stated that the case was regarded as varicella.
Personal effects were landed with the patient, and the cooks and stewards'
quarters were fumigated and washed down with disinfectant. All contacts were
vaccinated.