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REPORT ON A CASE OF SMALLPOX (SHIP BORNE).
1. On the morning of June 19th a scullion, Alex d'Souza, 25705, Goanese,
reported at the Asiatic sickbay with a rash.
2. The Goanese lived in a compartment in the forepeak, P.72, occupied by ten
members of the crew, to wit, 7 scullions and 2 Assistant Cooks, and he worked
in the main passenger galley, providing food for the saloon and tourist
accommodation. His duties were washing up in any part of the galley. He had
been on board since October 1949 and there is a record that he was vaccinated
in October 1949 but no record of a more recent vaccination.
3. The ship's movements during the home-ward voyage ware as follows
Sydney 26th May
Melbourne 30th May
Adelaide
Fremantle 5th June
Colombo 12th June
Bombay 15th June
Aden 19th June
Port Said 23rd June
and the numbers of passengers and crew were;-
Crew
White 246
Coloured 270
Passengers
1st Saloon 586
Tourist 467
D.B.S. 3
Stowaway
1,573
4. According to the Ship's Surgeon, the man saw spots on his belly on the 18th
and felt unwell for about 12 hours before reporting sick at sick muster on' the
morning of the 19th. On examination by the Assistant Surgeon, he was found to
have a scanty vesicular rash almost entirely confined to the body and face, chest
and abdomen. The rash was more apparent on the front of the chest, the abdomen,
the back, and face, with two spots on the scalp and one on the hard palate. There
were no spots on the legs nor any on the hands and feet. The spots took the form
of vesicles and papules, but the rash was too early to see any evidence of cropping
or pustular formation. Temperature 102°.
5. On arrival at Aden on the 19th, the day the man reported at the sick bay, the
ship was visited by an Asian Assistant Port Medical Officer who after a cursory
examination of the patient declared him to be suffering from chickenpox. This
conformed with the view of the Ship's Surgeon. The assistant Port Medical Officer
refused to take the man ashore on the grounds that chickenpox was not a quarantinable
disease in Aden, despite the representations of the Ship's Surgeon that he had
an overfull complement of passengers on board, including a large number of children,
and that he did not wish to retain, even in isolation, a case of chickenpox which
might, even with the best endeavours to maintain isolation, spread to the passengers
and particularly to the children on board. The Surgeon therefore, refused to
accept the Assistant Port Medical Officer's decision and went ashore to see Dr.
David, the Senior Port Medical Officer, Aden. Dr. David agreed to take the man
ashore and did so, using his own staff and launch, the man walking overside to the
launch. None of the ship's staff participated in helping the man overside.
6. The man had been isolated on board since he had been found and, after
evacuation, his quarters and the isolation quarters were scrubbed out and sprayed
with formalin for two consecutive days. The quarters that he had occupied in
isolation were closed and the bedding and mattress were dumped overside. All
contacts in the cabin occupied by the man were carefully examined and their
examination continued daily for the rest of the voyage.
7» On June 25th at 4 a.m., the ship being at sea in the Mediterranean, a message
was received via Malta radio from Port Health, Aden, as follows
(9)