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The Seamen's Hospital had seen three other members of the crew in the casualty department
on varying dates between the docking of the ship and the confirmation of Typhoid Fever in the
patient. Their symptoms were not. particularly suggestive of Typhoid Fever but as they had been
left in a Seamen's Hostel in the East India Dock Road while under treatment it was thought advisable
to admit them to the Hospital for observation. This was carried out with the invaluable
assistance of the Medical Officer of Health for Poplar.
Although the patient did not go ashore in London he had several visitors on board, mainly
representatives of engineering firms. These men were at some risk as they may well have been
given food or drink by the patient. It must be remembered that there was a strong possibility that
he was suffering from the disease for nineteen days before the diagnosis was confirmed. It was
therefore felt that these men must be found and warned and placed under surveillance. This proved
to be a difficult task but eventually all those whom the patient could remember as having visited
him were traced and put under health control.
Paratyphoid — "Anco Spur"
On the 6th October, 1964, a letter was received from the Medical Officer of Health, Port of
Liverpool, that the Swedish Tanker "ANCO SPUR" had arrived there on Friday the 2nd October
and the Agents for the ship in Liverpool had informed him that Messboy aged 17 had been hospitalised
in Rotterdam on the 28th September and was thought to be suffering from Typhus Fever.
Further, a Chief Steward aged 35 who had gone to Hamburg on private business had been hospitalised
there with the same diagnosis. The letter further stated that the necessary measures to
cleanse the ship had been taken and that the Chief Steward had been discharged from hospital on
Friday 2nd October and rejoined the vessel while the messboy had been diagnosed and confirmed
as suffering from Paratyphoid fever. This ship arrived in the Port of London on the 29th September,
1964 from Philadelphia, Lisbon and Rotterdam. She gave a completely clean bill of health
and therefore was not boarded by the Boarding Medical Officer at Gravesend.
It then became a matter of following up all the contacts, i.e. the people who boarded the ship
in the London River, in order that they might be placed under surveillance for paratyphoid fever.
There was also the matter of the exact diagnosis for the Chief Steward. It was thought best to put
everyone who had boarded the ship under surveillance and therefore the Inward Sea River and
Docking Pilots, the Customs, Immigration and River Pilots, the Cargo Watcher, the Boatmen and
Lightermen and the various representatives of firms were all notified to their local Medical Officer
of Health.
m.v. "Roxburgh Castle" — Contaminated Water Supply.
The m.v. "Roxburgh Castle" arrived at Tilbury Dock on Saturday evening 4th April, 1964.
The Port Health Inspector boarded her on Monday morning 6th April and carried out the
initial inspection and investigation.
The ship had sailed from Capetown on 13th March, and called at Las Palmas on 25th March
for bunkers and water, and at this point the domestic water tanks were nearly empty. After Las
Palmas the ship was at Hamburg from 31st March to 1st April, and at Antwerp for one day, 3rd
April, before coming to London. No water was taken on board between Las Palmas and London.
From normal enquiry on board it became apparent that at least ten different members of the
crew had suffered from sickness and diarrhoea from 2nd April onwards, but as most ratings had
paid off and left the ship, full particulars were not obtainable. The general hygenic standard of
the catering department was satisfactory, and the only common item of food and drink that could
be incriminated, bearing in mind the generalised outbreak of minor sickness in officers and crew,
appeared to be the drinking water. Arrangements were made with St. Clement's Hospital Pathological
Laboratory to test samples of drinking water from the Galley, Midship Pantry, P.O's Messroom,
and the Sailors' Messroom. The following day provisional results obtained by telephone
indicated faecal contamination in all the samples. The vessel's water supply was obviously unfit.
m.v. "Roxburgh Castle" was due to sail at 8 p.m. on the 7th April and as a matter of urgency
the Port Health Inspector met on board the owners Marine Superintendent, and the ship's Master,
Chief Engineer and Chief Officer.
The chlorination of all the ship's domestic water, which was contained in three tanks and
amounted to 158 tons, was supervised. This included water taken at Tilbury the day before, when
the tanks had been topped up.
The ship sailed for Capetown on 7th April and an undertaking was given that the ship's tanks
would be cleaned out, examined internally for leakage, repaired if necessary and replenished at
that port. The vessel had on board an adequate supply of Sodium Hypochlorite to be used after
filling tanks.
The cause of the contamination will possibly never be discovered but there are three possibilities
(a) Inadequate precautions taken with equipment hoses etc. when water was taken at Las
Palmas; on 25th March.
(b) Apart from a 12 ton tank in between deck, the othertwo tanks in the ship holding 73 tons
each are in the double bottom. It is considered that this form of storage for drinking
water is always hazardous, ships do touch bottom from time to time. This vessel, however,
was dry-docked and surveyed in February this year when the D.B. water tanks were
examined and cleaned, and the Master has no reason to think there was any seepage into
these tanks from outside.
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