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39
Report upon an Outbreak of Illness due to Milk
in the Finchley District, in January, 1904.
by
HENRY KENWOOD, Late Medical Officer of Health.
On the 18th January, 1904, I was informed of an outbreak
of illness among the Residents in North Finchley, Whetstone
and West Finchley. From the 16th to the 20th quite 100
cases of illness had come before the notice of the local medical
practitioners. The outbreak continued for a fortnight, and
there does not appear to be any clear evidence of fresh infection
subsequent to January 30th. During this period some 500
persons were affrcted in the Finchley District, and, so far as
I can gather, probably another 50 in the adjoining districts
of Hornsey, Friern Barnet, and Mill Hill. The main incidence
of the illness fell upon the districts of North Finchley and
Whetstone. Its characters were as follows:—
After an incubation period, which appeared to be
commonly 24 hours but occasionally 48, the sufferer complained
of enlargement and tenderness of the sub-maxillary
glands, together with soreness of throat and marked
malaise. One marked characteristic of the complaint was
the frequency with which the tonsils were inflamed and
enlarged, and in the worst cases the patients' temperature
was invariably high, reaching in some cases to nearly
104 degrees F. From each sufferer there was much complaint
of feeling weak and ill. In one or two patients
the tonsils suppurated, and in some cases the posterior
cervical: and supra clavicular glands were enlarged. The
complications which were most frequent were gland