View report page

12
The enteric fever patient was isolated in a saloon cabin, and, on convalescence,
all his bedding and effects were disinfected.
The cabin was fumigated in dock.
The case of measles appeared on 25th February, and was convalescent on
3rd March, when all effects were thoroughly fumigated.
On the 9th April, the s.s. " Chusan" reported that a child had been
attacked with chicken-pox at Aden on 28th March, and had been at once
removed from the ship, and all its effects disinfected by exposure to a high
temperature for 24 hours.
On the 16th April, a saloon passenger was taken to the Port Sanitary
Hospital from the s.s. " Hawarden Castle " suffering from enteric fever.
The vessel left Cape Town on the 25th March, and the disease appeared
immediately afterwards.
He stated that he had been living in a house at Johannesburg where other
cases had occurred, and the disease is known to have been ripe in that district.
The fact was reported to the Plymouth Local Authority, where the vessel
touched, but no action was taken there.
On the 28th April, the master of s.s. " Diomed," on arrival at Gravesend,
failed to report a case of enteric fever on board his vessel to your Medical
Officer, and refused to stop his vessel while the case was removed.
Your Medical Officer, therefore, met the vessel on her arrival in the Royal
Albert Docks, and removed the patient to the Seamen's Hospital the same day.
The master then expressed his great regret at having committed so serious
a breach of the Port Regulations, but it was felt that the offence was too
great to overlook, and a summons was, therefore, taken out against him at the
Gravesend Police Court.
The evidence against the master »vas unusually complete, the surgeon of
the ship having entered the case as " typhoid fever " in the official log on the
11th April.
On the hearing of the case, the Bench came to the conclusion that an
offence had been committed, but dismissed the summons on the ground that
the Port Regulations fixed the penalty at 51. ; whereas, the Public Health
Act, under Section 125 of which these Regulations are framed, fixed it at 2/.,
and that this error made the Regulations bad in law.