30
Information.
The Patwárís and Municipal Muharrirs submitted the prescribed returns, and
whenever possible they were checked. They
were often incomplete.
Evacuation.
Segregation.
Treatment.
Evacuation was resorted to in some cases, and, although never complete, was pro-
ductive of some good. The segregation of
sick and their contacts was never practised.
Medical treatment was fairly generally accept-
ed.
Disinfection.
Two thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven rooms were disinfected chemically with
satisfactory results, and 165 were desiccated, but
too late in the season to estimate the value of
the process. Desiccation was very popular, and the people used the stoves themselves.
About 13 seers of charcoal were used each time for an average-sized room.
Infection.
The first sign of the infection of a village was usually the death of rats. It was
observed that the interval which elapsed between
the death of rats and the appearance of the
disease among human beings was about six days.
Type.
The type of the disease was mainly bubonic, with a small percentage of pneumonic
and septicsemic cases. One curious case of re-
lapse was observed where a boy aged 14 years
went through an attack of bubonic plague with an inguinal bubo. On the ninth day, when he
was apparently recovering and was going about, he developed a cervical bubo, became
delirious, and rapidly died.
Influence of local conditions.
Elevated sites were said to be less severely affected than lowlying ones. The more
elevated portions of villages were said to have
suffered less than parts more lowly situated.
The comparatively small incidence of plague in the Pathánkot Tahsíl was attributed to the
villages being so thinly scattered.
Medical Staff and Establishment.
The following Medical Officers and subordinates were employed on plague duty in
the district :— Captain P. St. C. More, I. M. S.,
District Plague Medical Officer, Dr. J. M. Benson,
Dr. A. P. B. Ellis, Dr. E. N. Thornton, Dr. F. Goldsmith, Dr. G. Manook, Inoculating
Medical Officers, 6 Compounders. Assistant Surgeon G. C. Chatterjee with I Hospital
Asistant and 2 Dhais was posted to the Plague Inspection Post at Dunera.
GUJRAT DISTRICT.
Epidemic.
42. The epidemic under report was the second which has visited the district, and
though never very severe, was more so than the
preceding one—4,363 cases of plague with 2,829
deaths having been reported as against 928 cases and 553 deaths recorded during the outbreak
of 1901-02.
The town of Gujrát was already infected at the commencement of the present year, and
the disease spread to some villages of this tahsíl in October 1902.
The Phália Tahsíl became infected in November 1902 and the Kharián Tahsíl in
March 1903.
The epidemic did not increase very much in strength until the last week in March,
when it became much worse and reached its maximum during the fourth week in April.
About three-fourths of the cases were in the Gujrát Tahsíl.
The majority of the population were Muhammadans, and they were at first absolutely
indifferent, both to the progress of the epidemic and to the measures taken to prevent it.
In several villages when the epidemic became at all severe a great number of the inhabitants
took to flight. Often so many ran away that the shops in the villages were closed.
Preventive measures.
Neither in towns nor in villages was any surveillance exercised over arrivals from
infected areas. The villagers never refused
access to their villages to persons from infected
places.
Segregation.
Evacuation.
Treatment
The segregation of the sick and their contacts was never practised either in Gujrát
City itself or anywhere else.
Evacuation was never resorted to.
Medical treatment was seldom applied
for