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25
OYSTERS.
On the 27th January, 1904, the Medical Officer of Health for the Borough
of Holborn reported that he had received a notification of a case of Enteric
Fever, and upon enquiry had found that the patient had, about nine days
previously, eaten oysters from a stall in Leather Lane, the owner of which
obtained his supplies from a dealer at Billingsgate. He also stated that
another case was reported to him in the previous month in which oysters were
eaten which were supplied by the same salesman. These particulars were at once
brought to the notice of the Fishmongers' Company, and your Medical Officer
of Health also communicated the facts to the dealers who sold the oysters.
The firm in question, in replying, forwarded copies of certificates of purity
with reference to Dutch oysters and to oysters from the Colne Fisheries, and
stated that they were endeavouring to get the same from all places from which
they procured shellfish.
It was pointed out to them that as their firm was represented at the
meeting of the Fishmongers' Company on 5th January, 1903, and subscribed
to the resolution then passed, it was surprising that they had not taken the
same measures with regard to all sources from which they had obtained their
supplies.
As the oysters implicated in this case were imported from the Continent and
re-laid on the East Coast, it was clearly a case in which the recommendation
of the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal should be acted upon. Your
Medical Officer recommended that the place where the oysters were re-laid
should be at once examined topographically with a view of determining
whether the laying or pond was, or was not, to be considered as free from risk
of objectionable contamination.
The Government of the country from which the oysters were imported was
requested to prohibit the export of them if, upon enquiry, they were found to
be procured from a locality where they were liable to be contaminated by
sewage or other objectionable filth.
A copy of your Medical Officer's Report of this matter was forwarded to
the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The Fishmongers' Company were also requested to urge upon the Trade
the necessity for a strict adherence to the terms of the resolution referred to.
This course was taken advisedly, as in two instances firms who set their hands
to the resolution subsequently dealt with contaminated shellfish. This must not
be taken to imply that they knowingly did so, but as evidence that they had
failed to take sufficient measures to protect both themselves and the public
from an ever-present danger. It is of the utmost importance that frequent
periodical examinations of all shellfish layings, pits, &c., should be made, as it