London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of London 1956
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]
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| Inspections and Notices | No. of Vessels |
|---|---|
| Number of vessels visited by Sanitary Inspectors | 13637 |
| Number of vessels on which sanitary defects were found, and details reported to the Master, Owners and/or Ministry of Transport | 732 |
| Number of Statutory Notices served | Nil |
| Number of vessels on which sanitary defects were remedied | 719 |
| Inadequate venti lation | 22 |
| Defective Lighting — Natural | 1 |
| Do. do. — Artificial | 2 |
| Defective Heating | 12 |
| Condensation | 27 |
| Leaking Decks | 22 |
| Leaking Ports, Decklights, etc. | 15 |
| Leaking Sideplates | 2 |
| Leaking Hawse and Chain Pipes | 1 |
| Deficient or Obstructed Floor Drainage | 20 |
| Water lodging on top of Peak Tanks | — |
| Defective Bulkheads | 6 |
| Do. Floors | 34 |
| Do. Doors | 15 |
| Do. Chain Pipes | - |
| Do. Bunks | 7 |
| Do. Clothes Lockers | 1 |
| Do. Food Lockers | 4 |
| Do. Food Storage | 19 |
| Do. Cooking Arrangements | 29 |
| Defective or Uncleanly Drinking Water Storage | 13 |
| Water Closet Obsolete | 6 |
| Do. Defective | 28 |
| Do. Foul or Choked | 7 |
| Do. Inadequate Flush | 14 |
| Wash Basins Defective | 16 |
| Do. Foul | 1 |
| Neglected Paintwork or Distemper | 25 |
| Absence of Washrooms | 2 |
| Absence of Messrooms | 1 |
| Misappropriation of Crew Spaces | 2 |
| Verminous Quarters | 93 |
| Dirty Quarters | 534 |
| Miscellaneous. | 64 |
| Total | 1045 |
SECTION XIV- PUBLIC HEALTH (SHELLFISH) REGULATIONS, 1934 AND 1948
Two cases of typhoid fever occurred as the result of eating cockles obtained from the foreshore
at Scrapsgate, Minster, Isle of Sheppey. The facts as reported to your Medical Officer
by the local Medical Officer of Health and supplemented by information obtained by your Health
Inspector in the Medway area was as follows
While on holiday at Queenborough between the 7th and 17th May, a lady visited the foreshore
at Scrapsgate and collected cockles for her own consumption. Subsequently she was admitted to
hospital at Hove, her home town, suffering from typhoid fever.
As a result of this information cockles from the foreshore at Scrapsgate were sampled on the
14th June by the Health Department of the Sheppey Rural District Council and bacteriological
examination revealed the same strain of salmonella typhi in the cockles as had been found in
the patient.
On the 23rd June a further case of typhoid fever was confirmed by Sheppey General Hospital.
The patient had also eaten cockles from Scrapsgate. He first felt unwell about 13th June and
had eaten cockles bought on Sunday, 3rd June. These cockles had been gathered by a twelve
year old boy living in Scrapsgate who, it appears, had been in the habit of collecting cockles on
Saturday, soaking them overnight, boiling them for about \Vi minutes on Sundays and then by
arrangement with his uncle, selling the cockles in jars in at least one public house in Queenborough.
In the course of three Sundays some 34 jars were sold in the "Queen Phillipa" where,
in fact, the second patient was living. Incidentally, the contaminated shellfish were collected in
close proximity to Sheppey Council's sewer outfall and the Council swabbed various sewers for
bacterial tests.
In the meantime the Medical Officer of Health of the area caused suitably worded notices to be
exhibited at strategic points warning the public of the present danger should inadequately sterilised
cockles be eaten.
Under the Public Health (Shellfish) Regulations, 1934, a Medical Officer of Health is required
to make investigations with regard to any laying from which suspected shellfish have been
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