Sessional_Paper_1904 — Page 213

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by a Committee on Plague in the Gaol and amongst the Disinfecting Staff, which I have thought advisable to embody in this report.

Rat Prevention Measures have consisted in destroying as many rats as possible by means of traps and poison. During the cleansing and disinfection of houses after Plagne all rat runs and defects in walls and floors which might afford shelter for rats have been noted and steps taken to have rat holes filled in with cement, and broken ground surfaces repaired or re-laid, if necessary, with lime concrete.

Blocks of Houses closed by the Board.—With a view to check the spread of the epidemic at its beginning, the Board, as early as the 31st December, 1902, ordered the closure of the following houses:-

Wo On Lane, 1 to 17.

Wing Wa Lane, 19.

D'Aguilar Street, 15 to 21A.

These houses form one block.

A case had occurred at No. 5, Wo On Lane on the 19th December and a case at No. 9 on the 31st December. On December 29th a body had been found in the street and it was suspected to have come from No. 21, D'Aguilar Street. With a view, therefore, to allow of a thorough cleansing and disinfection of this block of houses and to enable repairs to floors and the filling up of rat holes to be thoroughly carried out the Board ordered the closing of the block.

The necessary disinfection and repairing having been carried out the houses were released from the closing order in February and March. After relase and consequent re-occupation a case occurred at 15, Wo On Lane, on the 1st April and another case at No. 11, on June 19th.

No further cases were known in the block throughout the epidemic. The same principle was followed in the case of other blocks of houses where possible.

On January 24th at the early part of the epidemic a case occurred in Wing Fung Street at No. 18. Two days after this a block comprising Nos. 8 to 24, Wing Fung Street, and 1 to 5 Wing Fung Street West was closed for disinfection and repairs. The houses were released on the 11th March after disinfection, thorough cleansing and repairs.

One subsequent case occurred at No. 20, Wing Fung Street on the 30th March.

The third block thus closed comprised D'Aguilar Street Nos. 20 and 22, Yan Shau Lane Nos. 1-5 and Wai Tak Lane Nos. 2-10.

A case of Plague had occurred at No. 3, Yun Shau Lane on February 27th and at 6 Wai Tak Lane on February 28th, while shortly before (February 4th) a case had occurred in a house 24, Wellington Street, which backs on to Yan Shan Lane.

These houses were released on different dates from 30th April to 26th June and no cases of Plague occurred in them after re-occupation.

The fourth block closed consisted of Amoy and Swatow Lanes and Nos. 142- 160, Queen's Road East. Four dead bodies had been found in Swatow Lane during March, and in Amoy Lane a case occurred at No. 2 on February 27th and at No. 17 on March 24th. A case had also occurred at 162, Queen's Road East on February 5th, but as this house had on that account been disinfected and repaired it was not included in the closing order.

Swatow Lane was released on April 27th having been closed on March 28th. No case was discovered in this lane after re-occupation.

Amoy Lane closed at the same time was released on June 6th. Here also no subsequent cases were discovered,

The Queen's Road East houses were closed because they formed part of the same block with these two lanes. No cases of Plague had been discovered in Nos. 140-160, nor did any occur there after their release, but in No. 164, the next house to No. 162, where Plague had occurred on February 5th, a case occurred on May 1st.