The Lowson Diary:
A Record of the Early Phase
of the
Hong Kong Bubonic Plague*
1894
G.H. Choa
129
One hundred years ago, a Bubonic Plague Epidemic broke out in Hong Kong. It originated from Yunnan where the disease was first detected probably in 1850. After an epidemic which occurred in 1860, it became endemic and in 1893, it spread across Guangxi to reach Guangdong early in 1894. Cases began to appear in Guangzhou in March and Hong Kong was hit in May.
Briefly, plague is an infection of rats by the plague bacillus which is transmitted to human beings by the bite of fleas infesting the infected rats. Crowded and insanitary conditions in which people and rats co-exist are therefore breeding grounds for the disease. Spreading is by infected rats carried in any kind of transport from one place to another, infecting the local rat population. The most common form, bubonic plague, is so called because of the appearance of swollen glands in the arm-pits or groins of the patients; 'bubo' means swollen glands. The condition was almost invariably fatal, but can now be treated by antibiotics such as streptomycin and tetracycline. It was during this last world-wide epidemic that the two causes of the disease, the plague bacillus and the flea as a vector carrying it, were discovered in Hong Kong and India respectively.
The Hong Kong Epidemic went on for thirty years, from 1894 to 1923. During the period, 21,867 cases were reported with 20,489 deaths, a mortality rate of 93.7%. The first cases of the disease were discovered among residents in the Tai Ping Shan District in West Point. There, the poorer class Chinese lived in appallingly overcrowded and squalid conditions without proper ventilation, sanitary services, drainage, and water supply. As soon as it was realised that plague had broken out, the place was immediately disinfected, but the disease continued to be prevalent.
* A talk given to the Hong Kong Branch, Royal Asiatic Society on October 5th, 1994.
THE LOWSON DIARY:
A RECORD OF THE EARLY PHASE
OF THE
HONG KONG BUBONIC PLAGUE*
1894
GH. CHOA
129
One hundred years ago, a Bubonic Plague Epidemic broke out in Hong Kong It originated from Yunnan where the disease was first detected probably in 1850. After an epidemic which occurred in 1860, it became endemic and in 1893, it spread across Guangxi to teach Gungdong early in 1894 Cases began to appear in Guangzhou in March and Hong Kong was hit m May
Briefly, plague is an infection of rats by the plague bacillus which is transmitted to human beings by the bite of fleas infesting the infected rats. Crowded and insanitary conditions in which people and rats co- exist are therefore breeding grounds for the disease. Spreading is by infected rats earned in any kind of transport from one place to another infecting the local rat population. The most common form, bubonic plague. is so called because of the appearance of swollen glands in the arm-pits or groins of the patients, bubo means swollen glands The condition was almost invariably fatal, but can now be treated by antibiotics such as streptomycin and tetracycline. It was during this last world-wide epidemic that the two causes of the disease, the plague bacillus and the flea as a vector carrying it were discovered in Hong Kong and India respectively
The Hong Kong Epidemic went on for thirty years, from 1894 to 1923 During the period, 21,867 cases were reported with 20,489 deaths, a mortality rate of 93.7%. The fust cases of the disease were discovered among residents in the Tai Ping Shan District in West Point. There the poorer class Chinese lived in appallingly overcrowded and squalid conditions without proper ventilation, sanitary services, diainage and water supply. As soon as it was realised that plague had broken out, the place was immediately disinfected, but the disease continued to be prevalent.
* A talk given to the Hong Kong Branch, Royal Asiatic Society on October 5th, 1994
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