London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Greenwich 1961

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Greenwich Borough]

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72
Notwithstanding the fact that large industrial firms are inclined
to make contracts with servicing companies, periodical treatments
were carried out at 14 industrial premises, 3 wharves and storage
places and at 3 hospitals in the Borough.
Following the policy of tracing the source of each infestation,
14 defective drainage systems were discovered. In these instances
Intimation Notices were served under the Public Health (London)
Act, 1936, and the drainage defects made good by the owners of
the various properties concerned.
Calls were made on the services of the Borough Engineer's staff
to enter sewers during colour-tests or in the tracing of disused drains
and also to the lifting of paving to locate sources of infestation;
these services were readily available.
Occupiers of business premises and also householders readily
report any known or suspected infestation, and the value of routine
investigation made in these properties is emphasised by the fact
that it is rare to find occupiers tolerating infestation after being made
aware of the service available under the Rodent Control scheme.
The Rodent Control personnel have performed their duties with
diligence throughout the year and have given the Department good
service.
Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949.—Rats and mice are
notorious not only for the wholesale destruction and fouling of foodstuffs
and for the structural damage they cause to buildings, but also
for their part in the spread of disease. Leptospirosis (Weil's disease)
is primarily a disease of rats and is one which can be fatal to man.
The disease is transmitted by means of food, dust, mud, slime and
water which has been contaminated by urine or faeces from infected
rats. Efficient rodent control is the first and most important
defence against this type of disease.
The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949, has placed the
onus for the destruction of these pests on Local Authorities and
makes obligatory the notification to these authorities by occupiers
of any rodent infestation. It has not been found necessary during
the year to take legal action to enforce the provisions of the Act.
The following report was submitted to the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, for the year ended 31st December,
1961: —
The following report was submitted to the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, for the year ended 31st December,
1961: —