62
E. G. PRYOR
mucous and epithelium frequently appeared in the stools.* Additionally, painful swellings or buboes commonly developed in the groin, neck or armpits usually by the second day.
Even though by the turn of the nineteenth century medical science had made significant progress, little was still then known of the manner in which the disease was transmitted. It was not until 1905 that it was finally established in Bombay by the Plague Research Commission of India that the bacillus, pasteurella pestis, commonly gained entry into the blood stream by inoculation through the bite of fleas which, in turn, were carried by rats. Scientific research into the causes of the plague in Hong Kong came close to finding this answer but the plethora of other more plausible-looking theories detracted attention away from the apparently harmless flea.
The Origin of the Plague in Hong Kong
Bubonic plague in China was thought to have first spread from Yunnan which, itself, is likely to have been infected by transmissions over the trade routes from India.
As a prelude to the outbreak of the disease in Hong Kong in 1894, it appears that it occurred in Canton in January of that year. By June, it had reached epidemic proportions and had accounted for some 80,000 deaths. At the outbreak of the disease in Canton, many persons (particularly the well-to-do) moved into the countryside and thereby created new foci for its dissemination. Simpson thus records that it is "not surprising that whatever affects Canton is not long in making itself felt in Hong Kong. This year when cholera broke out in Canton there was only an interval of a few weeks before the disease appeared in 1894." Indeed, the spread of the disease to Hong Kong was accelerated by the unrestricted entry from Kwantung Province of many thousands of workers and also junks and river boats that formed an integral part of the colony's role as an entrepot.
On the 10th May 1894, Hong Kong was declared an infected port and within the space of a few weeks the administration was
* Quoted in William Hunter, A Research into Epidemic & Epizootic Plague Hong Kong, 1904, p. 6.
↑ W. J. Simpson, Report on the Causes and Continuance of Plague in Hong Kong and Suggestions as to Remedial Measures, London, 1903, p. 22.
62
E. G. PRYOR
mucous and epithelium frequently appeared in the stools."* Additionally, painful swellings or buboes commonly developed in the groin, neck or armpits usually by the second day.
Even though by the turn of the nineteenth century medical science had made significant progress little was still then known of the manner in which the disease was transmitted. It was not until 1905 that it was finally established in Bombay by the Plague Re- search Commission of India that the bacillus, pasteurella pestis, commonly gained entry into the blood stream by inoculation through the bite of fleas which, in turn, were carried by rats. Scientific research into the causes of the plague in Hong Kong came close to finding this answer but the plethora of other more plausible look- ing theories detracted attention away from the apparently harmless flea.
The Origin of the Plague in Hong Kong
Bubonic plague in China was thought to have first spread from Yunnan which, itself, is likely to have been infected by transmis- sions over the trade routes from India.
As a prelude to the outbreak of the disease in Hong Kong in 1894 it appears that it occurred in Canton in January of that year. By June it had reached epidemic proportions and had accounted for some 80,000 deaths. At the outbreak of the disease in Canton, many persons (particularly the well-to-do) moved into the country- side and thereby created new focii for its dissemination. Simpson thus records that it is "not surprising that whatever affects Canton is not long in making itself felt in Hong Kong. This year when cholera broke out in Canton there was only an interval of a few weeks before the disease appeared in 1894." Indeed, the spread of the disease to Hong Kong was accelerated by the unrestricted entry from Kwantung Province of many thousands of workers and also junks and river boats that formed an integral part of the colony's role as an entrepot.
On the 10th May 1894 Hong Kong was declared an infected port and within the space of a few weeks the administration was
* Quoted in William Hunter, A Research into Epidemic & Epizootic Plague Hong Kong, 1904, p. 6.
↑ W. J. Simpson, Report on the Causes and Continuance of Plague in Hong Kong and Suggestions as to Remedial Measures, London, 1903, p. 22.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.