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65
By eating shell-fish—oysters, cockles, &c. 10
By personal contact with previous cases 7
By eating ice-cream 18
By eating fried fish 8
Total 43
Out of the total houses infected there were as many as 37 in
which some drainage or sanitary defect required attention.
With regard to the 10 cases of Typhoid Fever attributed to
the consumption of polluted shell-fish, it is, of course, absolutely
impossible to be assured that this was in fact the channel of
infection. The agent in infection must, as a rule, act 12 to 14
days before the illness begins, and this has to be borne in mind
in attributing the disease to its cause. It should further be
remembered that it is a known fact that some shell-fish are reared
on sewage beds, and that when reared on polluted sewage beds
may become infected, and retain the infection until consumed.
The evidence is as follows :—
1. Rosa S., aged 13, of T. Street; notified March 3; a consumptive,
and confined to bed; house in good sanitary condition; water
supply excellent; condensed milk; no visitors; no drain
nuisances; no evidence of indirect infection. On February 2nd,
9th and 16th patient ate heartily of some shell-fish, purchased
off a stall in Exmouth Street. On February 21st commenced
illness ; attributed to the shell-fish.
2. William N. C., aged 23, of A. Street; notified June 6th. This man
worked at a railway clearing house; from May 14th to May 22nd
was on his holiday in Jersey, where he ate oysters. He knows of
110 other possible cause of his illness.
3. Alice H., aged 15, of E. Street; notified on June 30th, but ill from
June 12th. Has not been in the way of infection ; has paid no