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The people of uninfected places generally attempted to keep out persons from infect--
ed places, but social and business relations often interfered with the success of these attempts.
Measures for obtaining information concerning
plague occurrences.
(b) Information concerning plague occurrences in villages was obtained from Lambardárs.
It is stated that although there was a disposition
at the beginning of the season and in the early-
stage of outbreaks in villages to conceal cases of
plague, they were afterwards freely reported, though less so in towns than in villages.
Evacuation.
(c) Evacuation of infected villages was common though in most cases it was not com-
plete, the people leaving most of their belongings
in their houses and frequently returning to
fetch supplies. The State provided huts, blankets and food for the very poor who
evacuated their houses in accordance with the instructions of the Medical Officers.
Segregation.
Treatment
(d) Segregation of sick and contacts was
but sparingly observed. The people preferred
native to European methods of treatment.
Disinfection.
(e) Chemical disinfection was popular, the people themselves applying for it, and
almost all the infected villages and the infected
quarters of the town of Phagwara were disin-
fected by the coloured perchloride of mercury solution, applied by special disinfecting gangs.
Phenyle was very popular with the people for disinfecting their clothes and persons.
In a few instances the people attempted to disinfect their houses by desiccation, light-
ing fires on the floors for this purpose.
Inoculation.
(f) Inoculation was not practised. It is remarked that it was not introduced at first, as
Medical authorities in India were not agreed as
to its protective properties, but that afterwards
when the evidence in its favour grew stronger—especially from the experience in the Jullundur
District—arrangements were made to offer inoculation, but by this time plague had begun to
decline and no body came forward for inoculation.
Infection.
(g) The infection of plague was introduced from the adjacent villages in the Jullundur
District, and was spread chiefly by human inter-
course, often being brought to a village by
persons who had attended the funerals of relatives dead of plague and had brought back
clothes or other things from infected places.
It is suspected that rats introduced plague into some villages as grfeat mortality was
observed among these animals in infected villages, the mortality among rats often preceding
outbreaks of plague among human beings.
NABHA STATE.
62. The Nábha State suffered from a severe epidemic of plague during the year under
report. Appearing first in the Amloh Tahsil in November Ï901 (but cases and deaths
returned in December 1901), it spread widely, and in March invaded the Phul Tahsil and
broke out in Nábha City in April.
There were outbreaks in 156 places between November 1901 (but cases and deaths
returned in December 1901) and June 1902, when the disease disappeared, and 11,769 cases
of plague with 10,589 deaths were reported to have occurred.
The Amloh Tahsil, which borders on the Patiála State and derived its infection from
there, suffered most.
There were outbreaks of plague in 136 villages in the tahsil with 8,852 cases and
8,178 deaths.
Infection was introduced into the Phul Tahsil from Ranekot in the Ludhiána District
where 19 villages were infected and 2,622 cases with 2,213 deaths occurred.
The city of Nabba became infected at the end of April 1902 by refugees from
Patiála. The number of plague cases reported here' was 295 and of deaths 198.