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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
Port of London 1912
Report for the year ended 31st December 1912 of the Medical Officer of Health for the Port of London
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TABLE X.
(Small-pox.)
| Date. | Name of Vessel, Port of Registry and Official Number. | Where from. | No. of Cases. | How dealt with. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912. Jan. 13 | s.s. "Delhi," of Greenock, 117,398. | Wrecked off Morocco | 1 | Removed to Hospital at Woolwich. |
| 20 | s.s. "Maloja," of Belfast, 132,012. | Bombay | 1 | Removed to Hospital at Marseilles. |
| Feb. 10 | s.s. " Mooltan," of Greenock, 117,397. | Auckland | 3 | Two removed to Hospital at Suez, and one to Port Sanitary Hospital. |
| March 21 | s.s. "Ajax," of Liverpool, 113,395. | Yokohama | 11 | Removed to Hospital at Penang. |
| „ 27 | s.s. "Colaba," of Glasgow, 121,287. | Calcutta | 1 | Removed to Metropolitan Asylums Board's, South Wharf Shelter. |
| April 1 | s.s. "Fiona," of Leith, 118,709 | Leith | 1 | Ditto. |
| 2 | s.s. "Thecius," of Liverpool, 127,933. | Yokohama - | 7 | Removed to Hospital at Penang and Singapore. |
| 9 | s.s. " Princess Clementine" (Belgian). | Naples | 1 | Removed to Hospital at Palermo. |
| May 3 | s.s. "Clan Sutherland," of Glasgow, 106,037. | Marmagoa - | 1 | Isolated on board. |
| June 25 | s.s. "Culna," of Glasgow, 124,164. | Bombay | 4 | One removed to Hospital at Suez, one at Antwerp, and two at Middlesbrough. |
| Oct. 28 | s.s. "Lesseps " (Norwegian) - | Almeria | 1 | Removed to Port Sanitary Hospital. |
| Nov. 8 | s.s. " Kirkcaldy,"of Kirkcaldy, 117,571. | Kirkcaldy - | 1 | Removed to Hospital at Kirkcaldy. |
| Dec. 23 | s.s. "Medina," of Greenock, 131,849. | Bombay | 1 | Removed to Hospital at Port Said. |
| Total | 34 | • |
SMALL-POX.
Thirty four-cases of Small-pox were reported, and I give below notes o£ each case.
The s.s. " Delhi," of Greenock, 117,398 (belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company), was wrecked on the Northern coast of Morocco on the
13th December, 1911. The Lascar crew were landed and taken to Gibraltar, and there
put on board the s.s. "Egypt," on which they were brought to London, and remained
on board during the whole of their stay, and finally went back in that vessel to India.
During the whole of the time they were kept under the observation of one of the
company's medical officers. The European crew remained salving portions of the cargo,
and one member, a winchman, who, it is stated, stayed a night or so in Tangiers,
sailed for London with the European members of the crew on the s.s. "Arabia"
on the 1st January, 1912.
The winchman proceeded to his home in Woolwich, where he was subsequently
found to be ill, and later he was diagnosed as suffering with confluent Small-pox, from
which he subsequently died in hospital.
The Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich telephoned the facts to me, and as it
was possible that the other members of the crew may have been exposed to the risk of
infection, the names and addresses of all the members of the "Delhi" crew coming to