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
Kensington and Chelsea 1966
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington & Chelsea Borough]
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Details of work carried out by the rodent staff during1966Treatment of premises (rats and mice)
| Number of properties in the borough | 74,309 |
| Total number of properties inspected following notification | 961 |
| Number infested by rats | 136 |
| Number infested by mice | 667 |
| Number of treatments carried out | 799 |
| Total number of properties inspected for rats and/or mice for reasons other than notification | 59 |
| Number infested by rats | Nil |
| Number infested by mice | Nil |
Destruction of Rats in Council's Sewers.
Destruction of rats in sewers has again been carried out with great
success on a systematic basis of continuous baiting of the sewers using
the poison fluoracetamide. The baiting is carried out on a programmed
basis whereby the borough is systematically dealt with area by area.
Each area is baited four times a year.
Poison baits are laid at access points throughout the sewers, of
which there are 125 miles in the borough. These points comprise side
entrances connected by galleries to the sewers and ventilating shafts
immediately over the sewers. There are over 2,300 of these baiting
points, but it was not possible to bait all the points at any one
treatment owing to road repairs and the presence of parked vehicles.
During the last treatment, non-poisonous test baits were laid at
all accessible access points. The "takes'* were carefully checked to
ascertain the absence of infestation or the degree of infestation to
each section of sewer. The results revealed a continued decrease in the
rat population throughout the system.
Sewermen of the Council and employees of contractors engaged on
works of repair to the sewers have commented on the decreasing number
of rats seen in the sewers. Complaints of surface rat infestations
continued to decline and, no doubt, this is due to the continuous
treatment of the sewers, together with the testing of frontage drains
or sewer connections which are tested as a matter of routine when
dealing with complaints of infestation to property at either ground
floor or basement levels. In all such cases, drains, if proved
defective, are either repaired or renewed. As a result of the success
of the Council's treatment of sewers, requests for demonstrations of
the Council's method were received from the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food, and a number of local authorities and practical
demonstrations were accordingly arranged.
No. of poison
baits laid
Poison
used
No. 1 Treatment from 28th February
to 12th May 2,111 Fluorakil 3
No. 2 Treatment from 13th May
to 17th August 2,135 Fluorakil 3
No. 3 Treatment from 22nd August
to 16th November 2,163 Fluorakil 3
No. 4 Treatment - selected manholes 352 Fluorakil 3