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
Edmonton 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Edmonton]
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Prevalence of Rats and Mice:
| Type of Property | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Authority | Dwelling Houses | All other including Business and Industrial | ||
| Properties inspected as a result of notification | 16 | 645 | 37 | 698 |
| Other properties investigated | - | 3,725 | 5 | 3,730 |
| Properties found to be infested | ||||
| Rats (a) Major infestations | - | - | - | - |
| (b) Minor infestations | 2 | 487 | 15 | 504 |
| Mice (a) Major infestations | - | - | - | - |
| (b) Minor infestations | 3 | 47 | 11 | 61 |
| Number of Properties treated by Rodent Operators | 5 | 534 | 26 | 565 |
| Number of inspections | 108 | 7,217 | 143 | 7,468 |
During the year, maintenance treatment of the sewers took place by
the Borough Engineer's Department, and I am indebted to the Borough Engineer
for the following report:-
RAT DESTRUCTION IN SEWERS
Four maintenance treatments were carried out at three monthly
intervals using the '1080' method of direct poisoning.
From 1950 to 1957 using the zinc phosphide and arsenious oxide
poisons with two prebaitings the average number of 'takes' as compared with
the number of manholes baited was 60%.
In the 'test' in March 1959, this figure was reduced to 6%.
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