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18
The Canal draws its water supply from the River Brent, which
is polluted in various ways, in addition receiving the effluents of
sundry sewage works in its course.
In one sense the result of the investigation is disappointing,
in that no specific organism can be pilloried as responsible for the
outbreak, but satisfactory in another sense in that it confirms the
findings of the Poplar outbreak.
It may be well to call to mind the facts of the Poplar outbreak,
where it was found that the Metropolitan Water Board supply
in the area adjacent to the Gas Works, in, which the cases of
illness occurred, was seriously polluted. As in this case, there
was valve connection between the Metropolitan Water Board supply
in the Gas Works and supply from the grossly polluted River Lea
on the north side of the Gas Works. In the bacteriological investigation
in this case Dr. Scott " could not find any of the organisms
usually associated with food poisoning epidemics in the discharges
or tissues of the sufferers. Nor after a fortnight did the blood of
the patients agglutinate cultures of these same microbes."
In the case under discussion we were more fortunate than Poplar
in that there were no fatal cases.
I wish to acknowledge the ready assistance given by the firm,
particularly Mr. Williamson., the Chief Engineer, and also to place
on record my thanks to Sir Alexander Houston and Dr. Scott, of
the Ministry of Health, for their great help willingly given.
ELWIN H. T. NASH,
Medical Officer of Health.