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children examined 9 or 27% had spleen enlargements. At Yok Chai Village on the Castle Peak Road 10 out of 14 examined had palpable spleens giving a spleen rate of 71%.
No difficulty whatever was experienced in the New Territories in taking spleen rates when the reason was explained to the people.
As
Parasite Rates. In the Repulse Bay area the smears of the blood of 147 Chinese servants were examined and malaria parasites found in 33 giving an infection rate of 22.5%. Out of the 186 servants living here only 4 used mosquito nets. There are numerous breeding places of anopheline mosquitoes in the immediate vicinity; the neglect of these people to use nets to protect themselves and others increases the risks of spread of malaria.
The Annual Report of the Malarialogist is given in the appendix.
Preventive Measures against Plague.
In the campaign against plague the routine measures which have been in vogue since the disease was at its height were continued. There were:-
(a) periodical cleansing of premises—lime washing.
(b) abolition of rat refuges—such as ceilings, stair linings and panellings.
(c) destruction of rats.
In the crowded areas the periodical cleansing of premises is a most important factor in the prevention of the spread of disease. Every house is dealt with in its turn at least twice a year. All the furniture is removed from the rooms or cubicles and all floors and woodwork washed down with an emulsion of soap and kerosene oil. This is done either by the sanitary staff or by the occupiers under the general supervision of the district inspector. Altogether 180,952 floors were dealt with.
Thirty members of the cleansing staff were employed in setting traps, bird-liming boards, distributing barium-carbonate baits, and collecting rodents which have been taken living or dead. By far the greatest number of rats were taken dead from the many rat reception bins or tins which have been placed in convenient situations throughout the city. The Chinese object to rats being found in their premises by the sanitary staff and it is not uncommon for them to kill the rodents caught in the Government traps and to throw the carcases into the reception tins. The total number of rats collected was 141,286 of which only 6,756 were taken alive. All rats collected were sent to the Public Mortuaries for examination.
During the year no rats were found to be plague infected.