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74
Sewage-contaminated oysters and other shell-fish.
The subject of sewage-contaminated oysters was under the consideration of the Council in connection
with a letter received from the town clerk of Brighton, asking the Council to affix its seal to
a memorial to the Local Government Board, praying for legislation for the purpose of minimising the
dangers to which the public are exposed through the consumption of sewage-contaminated oysters and
other shell-fish. The following report of the Public Health Committee, presented to the Council, was
adopted on 27th July, 1897—
We have had under consideration a letter from the town clerk of Brighton, asking the Council to
affix its seal to a memorial to the Local Government Board, praying for legislation for the purpose of
minimising the dangers to which the public are at the present time exposed through the consumption
of sewage-contaminated oysters and other shell-fish.
The memorial, which has been sealed by the Corporation of Brighton and 16 other corporations,
refers to the evidence recently adduced as to the dissemination of cholera and enteric fever by means of
oysters contaminated by sewage. It suggests that by legislation local authorities Bhould be empowered
to exclude from their districts shell-fish from any pond, river, or place proved to the local authority to
be contaminated by sewage, and the consumption of which shell-fish is proved to the satisfaction of the
local authority to have been or to be likely to be the cause of serious illness within the district. It also
suggests that the Local Government Board should be constituted a court of appeal, and that that Board
should, upon the representation of a local authority, be empowered to order the closing of any oyster
bed or pond or any shell-fish laying. It concludes by asking that the Board will cause to be introduced
into Parliament in the present session a bill dealing with the subject of the culture of oysters and other
shell-fish in the manner suggested in the memorial or in some other manner as the Board may deem fit.
In view of the fact that medical officers of health in London have stated that they have grounds
for suspecting that oysters have been the cause of enteric fever, we think the Council would do well to
support the application of the Brighton Corporation, but without suggesting the particular lines which
such legislation should follow. The question has been the subject of careful and detailed inquiry by
Dr. Bulstrode on behalf of the Local Government Board, who have therefore all the facts connected
therewith before them.
We recommend—
That a letter be addressed to the Local Government Board, stating that the Council concurs in
the wish of the Brighton and other corporations that the Local Government Board would introduce
a bill for the protection cf the public against the evils described in Dr. Bulstrode's report; and that
the town clerk of Brighton be informed of the course taken.
The town clerk subsequently wrote to say that the memorial had been adopted by 27 of the 33great
towns invited to join in the application, and that the President of the Local Government Board
had agreed to receive a deputation representing the memorialists.
The deputation was received by Mr. Chaplin on March 30th, 1898. Several members of the
deputation having stated their views, Dr. Forman, the chairman of the committee, expressed the
willingness of the Council to accept any duties the Local Government Board might desire it to undertake
for dealing with this evil. Mr. Chaplin stated that he recognised the importance of the subject,
and sympathised generally with the views of the deputation. He said there could be no doubt as to
the facts, but he had not been aware, before listening to the deputation, of the magnitude of the evil.
He considered that the time had arrived for legislative action, and he had been engaged for some time
on the measures necessary and appropriate in the circumstances. As to the dangers which might
arise from the sale of contaminated shell-fish other than oysters he had not yet sufficient information,
but with regard to oysters he hoped it would be possible for him at no distant time to take action that
would be satisfactory.
Disinfection.
Since writing my last report several sanitary authorities have provided improved apparatus,
in which steam will be employed. At present the only district in which dry heat is
depended on is St. Saviour, Southwark. In this district the sanitary authority long ago
decided to obtain a new apparatus, but no further action appears to have been taken. Several
authorities still depend upon the services of a contractor, but in each case steam is used; these
districts are: Kensington, Fulham, St. Martin-in-the-Felds, Holborn, Rotherhithe, Battersea, and
Wandsworth. In Paddington and Hammersmith new steam disinfecting apparatus was in course of
erection and is now completed. The Vestry of Fulham has decided to provide a disinfecting station,
and it was expected the work would be shortly commenced. The Vestry of Stoke Newington makes
use of the Islington apparatus; the disinfector of the London Hospital is used for the purposes of
St. George-in-the-East, and the Plumstead apparatus for the purposes of the Eltham and Kidbrook
parishes of the Lee district. The Holborn District Board were arranging with the Clerkenwell Vestry
for the use of the Clerkenwell disinfector.
The medical officer of health of Kensington reports that in spite of all his efforts the sanitary
committee decided " that no variation be made in the arrangements at present in force," and no
further action has been taken in the matter, although a letter was received from the Council in 1897,
enquiring whether they would be "able to provide a steam disinfector and dispense with the employment
of a contractor." Although steam is used in the disinfector in Mile-end Old-town, it is not
considered by the medical officer of health to be a satisfactory apparatus, and he reports that he has
made many efforts to induce the vestry to provide one suitable to the requirements of the district;
his present sanitary committee are also aiding him in this matter, and will shortly again bring the
question before the Board.
In several reports it is stated that the work done by the disinfectors was entirely satisfactory.
In tho majority of the reports, mention is made of the number of rooms and articles disinfected. In
some districts experiments have been made with a view to testing the efficiency of various chemical
disinfectants. The medical officer of health of Paddington gives a detailed account of the method
adopted in that district for the disinfection of rooms, and as a result of careful inquiry concerning the
appearance of secondary cases in invaded houses, he comes to the conclusion that in about three per