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
Camberwell 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell.
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19
Rodent Control.
The staff engaged in rodent control duties under the
direction of a Sanitary Inspector comprised, at the beginning
of 1948, 8 operators, 1 clerk, 3 investigators (one of whom
undertook part-time clerical duties), and 1 bait preparer.
During the year, however, this staff was reduced to 6 operators,
1 clerk, 1 investigator and 1 bait preparer.
The procedure for rodent control is laid down by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and consists of four days
pre-baiting and one day poison-baiting, the residual poison
being collected and "takes" recorded on the sixth day.
Complaints of infestation by rats and mice numbered 1,341.
The following is a summary of the work carried out during the year.
| No. of Inspections. | No. of Operators Calls. | No. of Premises Baited. | No. of Pre-Baits Laid. | No. of Poison Baits Laid. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private. | Business. | Total. | ||||
| 5,890 | 17,414 | 1,904 | 176 | 2,080 | 45,231 | 18,276 |
Arising out of these investigations a number of infestations
were traced to defective drains. A total of 671 drain tests were
carried out and positive results were obtained in 164 instances.
In addition to the treatment of surface infestations, maintenance
treatment of the sewers was carried out twice during
the year. During the week ended 6th June baits were laid in
1,268 manholes and side-entrances and during the week ended
4th December, 1,219 manholes and side-entrances were treated.
Two thousand three hundred and forty-four poison baits
were also supplied to tenants of premises infested with mice.