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8
5, Church Passage,
Guildhall, E.C. 2,
January, 1931.
TO THE WORSHIPFUL THE PORT OF LONDON SANITARY COMMITTEE.
Gentlemen,
I have the honour to submit herewith my Annual Report as Medical Officer
of Health of the Port of London.
The tonnage of vessels entering the Port of London during 1930 was 29,232,914,
showing .an increase of 321,016 tons over that for the previous year. Of the 16,085
vessels arriving from foreign ports, 1,816 vessels, carrying 78,551 passengers and
49,422 members of crews, were boarded and inspected by your Medical Officers.
Two hundred and forty-eight vessels arrived on which there were or had occurred
during the voyage a total of 639 cases of notifiable infectious disease. The number
of these cases actually landed in the Port was 278, of which 41 were removed to
your Hospital at Denton. The remainder were sent to other hospitals or were allowed
to proceed home. Thirty-four cases of infectious disease occurred on the Training
Ships, of which 15 were treated in your Hospital. Two cases of infectious disease
also occurred amongst residents in the Dock area.
No cases of Plague arrived, and no Plague-infected rats were found on ships
or on shore in the Port. One thousand four hundred and thirty-five rats from ships
and 2,693 rats from shore premises were bacteriologically examined, but in no case
was there any suspicion of Plague infection.
One vessel arrived on which there had been a case of Cholera abroad. One case
of Small-pox occurred on a vessel in the Port, and eight vessels arrived which had
landed cases of Small-pox abroad.
The Parrots (Prohibition of Import) Regulations came into operation on the
20th May, 1930, and 141 notices to export were issued in respect of 226 parrots.
Your Sanitary Inspectors made 15,764 inspections of vessels and 5,338 inspections
of shore premises. Orders to cleanse crew quarters were made on 1,670 vessels, and
it was found necessary to call for structural alterations and repairs on 421 vessels.
Orders to remedy structural defects were made in respect of 77 shore premises.
Eighteen Statutory Notices were issued in respect of nuisances from smoke,
as shown in Appendix XXXIII.
The number of vessels fumigated for rat destruction, under the supervision of your
Inspectors, was 233, and 3,398 rats were thus destroyed. In addition, 3,603 rats
were trapped on ships and 6,356 on shore in the Port.
On 1st January, 1930, the Public Health (Deratisation of Ships) Regulations, 1929,
made by the Ministry of Health in accordance with the Internatonal Sanitary
Convention, 1926, came into operation, and during the year 240 Certificates of
Deratisation and 999 of Exemption from Deratisation were issued.
Only two infringements of the Bye-laws relating to offensive cargoes were
reported. Two Intimation Notices were sent to the offenders, who took such steps
as to render further action unnecessary.
The arrangements made with the Port of London Authority whereby the annual
re-registration of Water Barges was made conditional upon a satisfactory report from
your officers as to the fitness of the barges for carrying drinking water, worked
smoothly and efficiently during the year.