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28
After considerable difficulty their names and addresses were, as far as
possible, obtained and communicated to the Medical Officers of Health for the
London County Council and of the Sanitary districts to which the men were
believed to have gone.
Every possible precaution was taken, but, unfortunately, some twenty persons
contracted the disease from contact with this man. The cattlemen who had
been in contact with the patient were not allowed to return to North America
until they had been individually inspected by your Medical Officer with a view
to determining whether they had been vaccinated and were free from symptoms
of Small-pox, and a certificate granted to that effect in each case. The certificate
of the Medical Officer of the Port Sanitary Authority, vised by the
Consul-General for the United States in London, was the only document
which would be accepted by the Government of the United States under the
circumstances. This case is important as showing the occasional danger
which exists from imported Small-pox.
As was pointed out at the time, the Port Sanitary Authority has no power
to detain vessels for inspection unless they come from places infected with
Cholera, Yellow Fever or Plague. In this particular case the result of very
careful enquiry went to show that the man was apparently well up to the time
of leaving the ship, and there was nothing in his appearance to excite alarm
amongst persons with whom he associated.
The rash typical of such cases was, in this instance, obscured—except to
the practised eye—by the black skin of the negro.
BERI-BERI.
Much public prominence was given during the year to this disease, and
many exaggerated views expressed as to danger to the public health from
the alleged infective nature of Beri-Beri. This arose from cases which were
reported to have occurred among the Chinese coolies carried to South Africa
for employment in the mines.
This disease does not appear to be infectious in the ordinary sense of the
term, although it is an illness of a serious nature requiring careful treatment.