98
HEALTH
restaurant in Hong Kong who was a symptomless excretor of vibrios. A short but severe outbreak in Kowloon commenced on 13th May and was traced to a contaminated well in a restaurant; this well appeared to have been infected by an employee of the restaurant who had experienced a very mild attack of gastro- enteritis and who was subsequently found to be excreting vibrios. This water-borne outbreak was definitely responsible for the occur- rence of 14 cases and three others were probably associated with it; all four deaths occurred amongst this group.
The Chatham Road Quarantine Centre was used for the isolation of contacts. Among a total of 385 contacts accommodated at the centre, 27 symptomless carriers were found; in addition, four other carriers were isolated at the Sai Ying Pun Hospital. Members of the Auxiliary Medical Service assisted the Medical and Health Department in the establishment and administration of the quar- antine centre.
The usual environmental measures were applied, including increased chlorination of the public water supply and of all wells and vigorous inspection of public eating-places and food premises, markets and hawkers. Particular attention was paid to the collection and disposal of nightsoil and to its sampling for pathological examination. The inoculation campaign continued and a total of 2,406,623 doses of vaccine had been given by the end of the year. The outbreak in Kowloon stimulated heavy demand and in one day alone 131,000 people were inoculated.
Routine sampling of foodstuffs, such as shellfish, fresh-water fish, and fruits all proved negative. However, routine investigation of the homes of each patient proved of some interest. Seventeen of the homes, exactly fifty per cent, showed widespread dissemina- tion of the vibrio; places most commonly found infected were the latrine-pans, drainage outlets, dustbins and food chopping-blocks.
Tuberculosis remains the principal community health problem in the Colony. Many thousands of unselected examinations carried out each year show that approximately two per cent of the adult population is in need of treatment for the disease, with a smaller percentage of active tuberculosis occurring below the age of 15. There is ample evidence that tuberculosis in infancy and early childhood is now relatively rare by 1951 standards, that the peak