View report page

to London, a medical inspector and a chaperon, if required, is provided on telephone application
by the Immigration Officer to the Boarding Medical Officer on the Hulk "Hygeia" at Gravesend,
where a 24 hour medical service is maintained. A panel of doctors, duly authorised as Medical
Inspectors has been instituted to carry out these duties on a fee basis. These doctors are also
appointed as Medical Inspectors of Aliens.
During the six months to 31st December 1962, the arrangements worked very satisfactorily.
Statistics are as follows
Commonwealth citizens subject to control arrived 5,846
do. examined 578
Certificates issued None
Ships boarded by members of the panel of doctors
at Plymouth 7
Brixham 4
Le Havre 1
London 28
40
In addition, a certain number of medical inspections are performed by the Boarding Medical
Officers when their other duties permit.
section xvi
MISCELLANEOUS
Arrangements for the burial on shore of persons who have died on board ship from infectious
disease.
The body of any person dying on board ship, or in Denton Hospital, from infectious disease
would normally be removed from the ship or Denton Hospital for burial by a Private Undertaker
acting on the instructions of the shipping company or the next-of-kin, the local police being kept
informed.
In the event of the death being due to smallpox, special instructions as to precautions to be
taken would be given to the undertaker by the Port Health Authority.
PIGEON CONTROL
Although feral pigeons have inhabited the Port for a long time as accepted guests, their
presence and activities are becoming increasingly resented due to the enlarged population of the
flocks and the increasing damage involved. The damage is associated with structures as well as
equipment and culminates in losses of foodstuffs, directly and otherwise. There is ample evidence
of this in the neighbourhood of granaries and on the tarpaulins of lighters which are frequently
grossly contaminated with the birds' droppings. Clearly, the menace is not confined to one
specific area, for it involves both the feeding site and the roosting site, which may be a considerable
distance apart, even on opposite banks of the River.
It is felt that the Port Health Authority should be actively engaged in the elimination of this
problem, but there is no enabling legis lation to this effect and, unless there are ample grounds to
prove that there is a danger to public health the problem is one for those directly aggrieved.
Probably greater concern is aroused when foodstuffs become contaminated or there is danger
from contamination of food handling or storage premises.
At present, spasmodic operations are carried out by private enterprise with a license to
narcoticise the birds and then destroy them, and other minor schemes include the trapping of
birds and destruction of the nests and eggs. These localised and spasmodic efforts are not
intended to control an area, but specific premises. The former method has been successfully
used at meat discharging quays and the other in timber storage sheds used as roosting places.
For example, it is recorded from the Millwall Dock that 1,191 birds and 801 eggs were destroyed
during the year.
Inspectors from this Authority have been present at various demonstrations which have nor
produced conclusive evidence that the principles of elimination by doping with narcotic baits such
as alpha-chlorolose will effectively control flocks of birds in industrial areas.
It is evident that effective control in the Port must be carried out by systematic area controlled
operations to cover both roosting and feeding sites and trained personnel will be needed
for this purpose. Another important factor to be overcome is the strong public sentiment for the
preservation of these pigeons.
23