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Van Dwellings.—During the year 148 visits have been paid
to the caravans in the district and it has been found necessary
to serve Notices with respect to minor defects. Generally speaking,
the vans have, as far as practicable, been kept in a fairly
reasonable condition; but overcrowding of sites still continues.
Dairies, Cowsheds and Milkshops.—Eight applications were
received during the year from persons desirous of being registered
under the Milk and Dairies (Consolidation) Act, 1915, the Milk
and Dairies (Amendment) Act, 1922, and the Milk and Dairies
Order, 1926.
One hundred and nineteen inspections have been made of
the premises of dairymen and purveyors of milk in the district,
during which certain matters were discovered which required to
be dealt with by the Public Health Department.
Throughout the year observations have been kept in the early
mornings with a view to checking the careless handling of milk
and the bottling of milk other than on registered premises. The
offence, I need hardly point out, is a serious one, and one which
offers great difficulty in discovering. Apart from the fact that in
these cases milk is bottled in the streets, often times a bottle
which has been standing outside a house over night is the receptacle
used, and a disc, possibly taken from a dirty pocket, forced
into the bottle by a none too clean finger. Despite warnings and
prosecutions there are still some offenders and you can rest
assured I shall continue my endeavours to detect and bring them
to the Authority's notice in the hope that in course of time I
shall be able to submit a more satisfactory report.
Infectious Disease and Disinfection.—During the year, visits
for the purpose of investigating cases of notifiable infectious
disease were made to 319 houses. Special visits were also made,
as required, for the purpose of following up and enquiring after
the health of persons who had been passengers on vessels coming
into this country, on which cases of infectious disease had
occurred, and of which notice had been received at the Public
Health Office from the Port Sanitary Authorities concerned.
At 17 houses from which cases of notifiable infectious disease
hud been reported, defective drains or other insanitary conditions
were found to exist, all of which were subsequently remedied
under the supervision of the officers of the Public Health
Department.
Disinfection of rooms, bedding, clothing, etc., was duly
carried out after the removal to hospital or recovery of each
patient. Where necessary, the walls of the rooms from which
the cases had been removed, were stripped and re-papered or
distempered.
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