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11
The ship lay head-on to the quay in Millwall Dock on Saturday and Sunday the
14th and 15th February, and started discharging into craft on the 16th February, lying
at the buoys.
The Case.—Tsunezo Sawahata, 24 years old, was taken ill on the 15th February
and developed a right Femoral Bubo on the 16th February. This was diagnosed as
Plague by the ship's surgeon and reported a.m. 17th February. The patient had
been ship's storekeeper up to two days before his illness, when he became cook, but
still fetched his stores as often as not. The patient was removed to Denton Hospital,
and the diagnosis was confirmed the same evening microscopically, by your Medical
Officer, and subsequently by the Pathologist to the Ministry of Health. The patient
died on the 19th February and was cremated on the 20th.
Disposal of Ship.—The ship was removed to the quarantine grounds on the
18th February as soon as the circumstances of tide permitted, and certain barges with
cargo already discharged were traced to their destinations or held pending disposition
of their cargo under supervision.
The Cargo.—Flax, seed, copra, ground nuts, white peas, green peas, sesame
seeds, potato starch, beans and cocoa, distributed throughout the ship amid a burthen
of 9,000 tons, and in many thousands of bags constitute a cargo typically attractive
to rats.
Most of the cargo was destined for Hamburg or Antwerp, and only a small
proportion (2,660 bags) of the bagged material above mentioned, for London.
A large part of the cargo was cased goods, teak, oil in drums, tobacco and other
material unapproachable by or unattractive to rats.
A feature of the stowage was the distribution of the bagged attractive material
in every hold and on every deck in the holds in view of multiple ports of discharge.
Rats.—Your Medical Officer was shown a dead rat found in the bath-room in the
living quarters on the main deck, and dead rats were spoken of as seen by the
stevedores, who also complained of the smell of dead rats in the holds.
Dead rats had been seen in several hatches by the ship's company, and three dead
rats in all had been found in the living quarters up to the time of my visit. These had
unfortunately been burned during the visit on confirmation of the diagnosis. (The ship
is wholly manned by Japanese; no one amongst these speaks good English.)
The Voyage.—The Surgeon's Certificate on arrival showed that there had been
no febrile illness on the ship, no case suspicious of Plague and no observed mortality
or morbidity amongst the rats.
A case of "Strangulated Hernia" landed at Port Said on 23rd January for
operation, casually mentioned to your Medical Officer, was enquired into, since the
regional symptoms of Plague may conceivably be confused with those of Strangulated
Hernia in the absence of suspicion. This case was not mentioned on arrival of the
ship at Gravesend.
Precautions.—The living quarters of the ship were provisionally fumigated. All
discharge of cargo was stopped and the hatches replaced. The barges in use were
inspected and allowed to proceed for discharge.
It was found that the ship had not been alongside the quay during her stay in dock
though barges had formed a gangway.
Tide and light did not permit of the ship leaving the dock for twenty hours since
the engines were adrift and towage was the only means of progression. Meanwhile all
possible communication with the quays were severed, the ship lying free at the buoys
in mid dock.
Prophylactic serum was obtained and put on board the ship without delay. The
whole of the crew was inoculated and reinoculated.
A refumigation of the living quarters and a steaming of all crew's bedding and
clothing was carried out at Gravesend.
Pending discharge of the cargo and arrangements thereto the ship lay at the Bight
in Gravesend Reach.
The crew was lodged entirely amidships. The ship was fumigated when empty at
Kobe on the 26th November by the C02C0 (Flue Gas) process.
The living quarters were all situated on the main deck amidships.
The crew was inoculated on the 20th and 27th February—successive inoculations—by
the ship's Surgeon.
On discharging into lighters and barges the following difficulties to the ship and to
effective sanitary control became apparent:—
(1) There was a dearth of barges in the Port.
(2) The discharge would be protracted over a very long period.