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Typhoid Fever — s.s. "Orcades"
At midday on the 8th May, information was received from the Medical Superintendent of the
P. & 0. Orient Line, that a Utility Steward who had been admitted from s.s. "ORCADES" to the
Seamen's Hospital at Greenwich on the 4th May had been diagnosed as suffering from Typhoid
Fever.
He was admitted to the ship's hospital on the 30th April, having been ill for some days previously,
but was free to go about the ship. It was not known at this time what his exact employment
had been but he may have been handling food, so it was decided to take precautions accordingly.
It was arranged that the Company doctor, with the assistance of the Port Health Inspector in
Tilbury Dock, should take specimens from all the catering staff to ascertain whether any of them
were capable of passing on the infection. As it was possible that passengers who were disembarked
on the 4th May and members of the crew who had gone on leave might be incubating the
disease, it was decided to notify Medical Officers of Health of the districts to which the passengers
and crew members had gone. There were some 1247 passengers and 419 crew members.
It was later established that this man had been employed only in the Goanese mess. It seems
unlikely, therefore, that he would have been able to infect any of the passengers or crew other than
the Goanese. Further, as the date of onset was about the 24th April and he joined the crew in
Bombay on the 17th April, it is very unlikely that he contracted the disease on the ship though he
himself was infectious.
In all the circumstances, in order to protect the public the measures taken were indicated by
the facts as known on 8th May.
Typhoid Fever — m.v. "Arlanza"
On the 10th June 1964 a request was received from the Shipping Federation for advice as to
the disposal of a Senior Engineer from the m.v. "ARLANZA" lying at that time in the Royal Victoria
Dock. It appeared that this man had some slight abdominal complaint but had a history of
contact with a confirmed case of typhoid fever in Aberdeen.
Because of this history this man was admitted to hospital for observation. He developed
typhoid fever two days later and this was confirmed by telephone from the hospital on the evening
of the 15th June.
Routine disinfection and surveillance procedures were started on the "ARLANZA" on the
16th June but that evening another telephone message was received from the Enteric Reference
Laboratory at Colindale stating that it could not be guaranteed that the patient had not been excreting
the typhoid bacillus during his incubation period. This altered the situation very considerably
and it was decided to screen as many as possible of his contacts on the "ARLANZA" and
to carry out a crash disinfection programme on the 17th June. The problem of time was acute
as the ship was due to sail on the 18th June at 1300 hours.
As a result of considerable effort on the part of the Port Health Inspectors in the docks all
the toilet and wash-hand basin facilities, all the galleys and all the dining accommodation on the
ship were disinfected. In addition, specimens for bacteriological examination were taken from as
many of the contacts as possible. In the cases where this was not possible contacts going home
were notified to their local Medical Officer of Health.
Typhoid Fever — ss "City of Hull"
On the 10th July, 1964 it was reported that an Engineer from the s.s. "CITY OF HULL" who
had been admitted to the Seamen's Hospital at Greenwich had been confirmed as a case of Typhoid
Fever.
The patient, had not been home since December, 1963. The ship left Capetown on June 12th
having spent some weeks coasting in the Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban, Laurenco Marques,
and Beira areas. Before leaving Capetown on the homeward journey the ship took on a quantity
of fresh milk which was distributed to individual members of the crew. Investigation of this milk
was not possible and no evidence incriminating it was discovered.
From the 12th to 24th June the ship was on voyage to Las Palmas, and during this time, probably
on the 20th June, the patient fell ill with headaches and a raised temperature. He did not go
ashore at Las Palmas. The ship docked on the 29th June in London but the patient was not admitted
to the Seamen's Hospital until 5th July.
The "CITY OF HULL" and three other ships to which some members of the crew of that ship
had been transferred, had sailed from London before the diagnosis of Typhoid Fever was confirmed
or this department knew the case. The Captains of the ships and the Port Health Authorities of
the Ports to which they were bound, namely Hamburg, Montreal, Aden and Las Palmas, were informed
so that appropriate action could be taken.
All the passengers who disembarked and those members of the crew who had gone on leave
needed to be put under surveillance, and this presented a problem because of the postal dispute.
An attempt was made to phone the Medical Officers of Health responsible for the districts concerned,
but by this time on Friday evening many of these Health Departments had closed and the
information could not be passed until the Monday morning.
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