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Not of what had been seen. us to draw up a report for the Sanitary Board meeting that afternoon and requested one to be brief also that
A report ecting is
The following joint letter from the Colonial Surgeon and the Acting Superintendent of the Civil Hospital was read :-
Government Civil Hospital,
1.30 pm, May 10th, 1894,
Sir,--In accordance with your letter today we have the honour to report that we have visited the Tung Wah Hospital and found there about twenty cases in one ward of the same disease which is now prevalent in Canton, namely, plague. There have been several deaths from the same disease and there will be more within the next 24 hours as several of these cases were very ill. Briefly the symptoms are--fever, sometimes very high, swelling of the glands in the groin, or neck, armpits, extreme nervous prostration, delirium, coma, and death. These are the common symptoms, but sometimes there are other, such as hemorrhagic spots, &c., which are, however, only occasional. There is not the slightest doubt as to the character of the disease. It is exactly the same as Dr. Lowson saw at Canton on Sunday with Dr Rennie. At present we have no time to write a full medical report, but we may mention that on Monday evening Dr. Lawson diagnosed a case in the Government Girls' Hospital as plague, and immediately isolated it.
We have to recommend:-
(1)--That all house drains and main drains in the affected district be flushed at once and regularly flushed afterwards. They must also be disinfected.
(2)--Houses in which cases have occurred must be disinfected in the usual way for other infectious or contagious disease.
(3)--The clothing of all infected persons and their attendants should be taken charge of and thoroughly disinfected.
(4)--On no account must an accumulation of patients be allowed in the Tung Wah Hospital, as this would inevitably cause a spread of the disease.
(5)--The Hygeia must be removed and brought into the middle of the harbour, as near to the shore as possible, and at once. We feel sure that if a deputation of the leading Chinese be taken to the Hygeia and the situation is explained to them, and also the fact that the patients will be in the charge of their own countryman, no difficulty will be found in getting the affected people to go to the ship. These cases as a rule are too ill to object themselves and if any difficulty is caused then it must be met by the Government.
P. B. C. AYRES,
Colonial Surgeon.
J. A. Lowson,
Acting Superintendent of Government Civil Hospital.
| The Secretary, Sanitary Board.
BLACK PLAGUE IN HONGKONG. DISCUSSION IN THE SANITARY BOARD. Last night, we published the documents of the Sanitary Board bearing upon the outbreak of a disease which has been named the 'black plague' in Canton and Hongkong. Appended we give the discussion which followed upon the reading of the special report submitted by Dr Ayres and Dr Lowson :-
The President said that in addition to the report just read he had a telegram from the Consul at Canton stating that the number of cases was increasing, but the mortality was decreasing.
The Colonial Surgeon said he understood there had been a heavy rainfall at Canton within the last forty-eight hours.
The President said he had not heard of it.
Mr Francis asked if it was a fact that three weeks ago six or seven deaths occurred in one house in Bonham Strand.
The President--I did hear that rumour and inquiries were made both by the Registrar General and the Secretary of the Sanitary Board, and it was found four deaths had occurred in that neighbourhood.
Mr Francis--Is it or is it not true that six or seven deaths took place in one house?
The President--There were no reports made to that effect.
Mr Francis--I am not asking whether reports were made. I know there were no reports, or I would have seen them in the ordinary course. Were there six or seven deaths in one house or not?
The President--There is nothing to show that there were.
Mr Francis--Have you made inquiries?
The President--Inquiries were made, and it was found there had been seven deaths in that neighbourhood, but not from plague.
Mr Francis--Were they registered?
The President--They were registered.
Mr Francis--From what cause?
The President--From various causes, but not from plague.
The Colonial Surgeon--This is not the first time this disease has occurred, within my memory, in Canton. The Chinese know the disease very well up there. There are thirteen cases now at the Tung Wah Hospital and four bodies of those who died from the disease. We are gathering information so that all the houses from which the cases came may be looked after.
They come from Market Street, Tank Lane, and Ladder Street, where there are old undrained houses and the drains will have to be thoroughly flushed out and the houses cleansed and whitewashed. The disease is one entirely of poverty and filth. It is a similar disease in Asiatic countries to typhus in European countries. There is no necessity for getting up a scare about it. Dr Lowson saw a large number of cases at Canton, but there has been no case amongst the attendants at the hospital there. Although there have been three or four hundred cases admitted there within the last week or ten days, not one of the attendants has been attacked. I think Dr Lowson might explain for the information of the Board the state of affairs in Canton.
Mr Francis--I would like to know whether there have been thirteen deaths in Tank Lane within the last forty-eight hours.
The President--No, not that I am aware of.
Mr Francis--Has any considerable number of deaths been reported to the Registrar-General from any particular place?
The President--Yes, there have been a number from Market Street and Tank Lane. If a person dies in his own house the death is registered and his address is given, but very often the Chinese of Hongkong when they are very sick are taken to the Tung Wah Hospital, and if they die there the death is registered by the Tung Wah authorities, and there is some difficulty in tracing where the person came from originally. We are now tracing the cases.
Mr Francis.--How is it the Tung Wah people have not reported these deaths from infectious disease?
The President--Is it infectious?
Mr Francis--If there is any doubt about it it ought to be treated as infectious,
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