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17
The daily notifications occurred as below:—
No. of
Date. cases.
June 11th 1
„ 12th 2
„ 13th 1
„ 14th 3
„ 15th 3
„ 16th 3
„ 18th 7
„ 19th 7
„ 20th 5
„ 21st 7
„ 22nd 9
„ 23rd 4
Upon investigation, no point in common among any considerable
number of the cases has been discovered, except that in 24 out of the
52 cases a definite history of the eating of cockles a short time
(varying from a week to a fortnight) prior to the attack was forthcoming,
and 13 of these 24 were able to fix the purchase on 26th
May—most of them from a particular shop, though some purchases
were made in the street. The cockles obtained from the shop in
question, on 26th May, were purchased from Billingsgate and were
part of a consignment from Leigh-on-Sea.
In view of the known liability of pollution at this reach of the
Thames and the strong evidence that the eating of infected shellfish
was the cause of the greater number of Enteric Fever cases which
have recently occurred, I so reported to my Public Health Committee,
on June 20th, and with the consent of the Education Authority, on
June 21st, I approached by circular letter all the Head Teachers of the
Public Elementary Schools, requesting them to warn the parents
through the children, of the danger of eating shellfish, especially in-a
B