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
Barnet 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Barnet Urban District Council]
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(21)
RODENT CONTROL,
Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949.
A full time rodent operator is employed for treatment of infestations of rats and mice. The table below gives details of the work carried out during the year:-
| Type of Property. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Authority | Dwelling Houses | Agri- cultural | All other (including Business and Industrial) | Total | |
| 1. Total number of properties in District. | 24 | 7013 | 24 | 732 | 7793 |
| (a) 4 | 147 | — | 14 | 165 | |
| (b) 2 | 412 | — | 35 | 449 | |
| 3. Number of properties (under 2) found to be infested by rats. | Major - | 1 | — | l | 2 |
| Minor 4 | 278 | — | 14 | 296 | |
| 4. Number of properties found to be seriously infested by mice. | — | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| 5. Number of infested properties (under 3 and 4) treated by the Local Authority. | 4 | 279 | — | 15 | 298 |
| 67 | |||||
No notices were served under Section 4 of th- Act, requiring the
execution of works, in connection with infestations, but three informal notices,
requiring removal of accumniulations harbouring rats and two informal notices
requiring wiring protection round corn ricks during threshing, were served and
complied with.
A test bait was made of 10% of the soil sever manholes in the district,
from the results of which are based the two maintenance treatments of the sewers,
required by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries as one of the conditions
under which the Ministry pay 50% of the Council's rodent control expenses.
This year, the number of manholes poisoned in these maintenance treatments
was 15 and 32 as compared with 13 and 24 manholes poisoned in the treatments
carried out during the previous year. The closeness of the fig-ares would
appear to indicate that there will be no startling reductions in sewer rat
infestation as occurred when this authority first took over those duties.