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139
APPENDIX.
Bug Infestation.
The Public Health Committee, at their meeting in June, received the
following report of the Medical Officer of Health upon bug infestation:—
To the Chairman and Members of
the Public Health Committee.
Re Bug Infestation.
The Medical Officer of Health submits the following report on Bug
Infestation.
Bug infestation of dwelling-houses is not a new condition; it has
been the cause of complaints for many years.
Now that the Council have become owners of many dwelling-houses—
converted premises, as well as new buildings—their responsibilities have
increased, and the problem of dealing with this nuisance has to be
considered from an owner's point of view, as well as from that of a Local
Sanitary Authority.
In London, bug-infested houses are dealt with mainly under section 10
of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1922, sub-section 1
of which states:—
''10.—(1) Where it appears to any sanitary authority on a report
from their medical officer of health that any house or part thereof in
• their district is infested with vermin such authority shall give notice
in writing to the owner or occupier of such house or part thereof
requiring him within a period to be specified in such notice to cleanse
such house or portion thereof specified in the notice, and if so required
in the notice to remove wall paper from the walls of such house or
portion thereof and to take such other steps for the purpose of
destroying and removing vermin as the case may require.''
On the receipt of a complaint of "bugs," as a rule an inspection is
1 made and an Intimation served on the owner. If necessary, the bedding
i is steam disinfected and the rooms sprayed. A fluid disinfectant