19
HOSHIARPUR DISTRICT.
Epidemic:
32. The year under report is the sixth that plague had visited the distict, and the
present epidemic was more severe than any of
its predecessors: 35,522 cases with 19,355
deaths were returned during the present epidemic as compared with 22,437 cases with 12,500
deaths recorded during 1901- 02. At the commencement of the season 22 villages
were already infected. The epidemic rapidly grew until the week ending December
the 20th, when there was a very distinct subsidence, which lasted till the end
of January. At the beginning of February the disease again spread rapidly, and the
rise continued until May 30th. The disease was at its height during a period of eight
weeks from March the 29th to May the 23rd. Thence onwards it rapidly declined,
disappearing during the second week in August; to reappear during the third week in-
September.
The people were very fairly disposed towards all plague measures and more inocu-
lation was done in this than in any other district. Where the disease was a new experience,
as in the Una Tahsíl, the people often exhibited great fright at its presence, so- much so that
corpses were deserted and great difficulty was sometimes experienced in getting them dispos-
ed of. In the Una Tahsíl more evacuation was done than in any other tahsíl; in the other
tahsíls plague had come to be regarded by the people with more or less indifference.
Measures adopted.
Surveillance over arrivals from infected areas was never exercised. In no case did
the villagers avail themselves of the facilities,
afforded to them by Government, to prevent
persons from infected places entering their villages.
Information.
The reporting of plague occurrences was fairly well carried out by Patwár's:- Conceal-
ment of cases was usually limited to the earl}
stages of outbreaks of plague:
Evacuation.
Evacuation, more or less imperfect, was so extensively resorted to as to exert a most
appreciable effect on the progress of the epi-
demic. In the Una Tahsil every infected village
was evacuated to some extent The largest villages were the tardiest to evacuate. In the
Garhshankar and Hoshiarpur Tahs Is evacuation was less resorted to than in other parts of
the district. Very often the people only moved out into their cattle-sheds adjoining their
houses. The inconvenience of removing necessaries out into camp, the difficulty of building
huts for themselves, and of providing suitable shelter for their cattle, as well as the ever
present risk of theft from the evacuated houses, all combined to make the people disinclined
to evacuate their houses. Even when the villages were completely evacuated, if a few days
went by without the occurrence of a case of plague, the people returned to their houses, often
only to experience a fresh outbreak of plague.
Segregation.
Segregation was never properly practised, though occasionally an infected family
was put into a cattle-shed on the outskirts of
the village.
Disinfection.
The District Plague Medical Officer remarks that disinfection by chemicals is never
likely to become popular, as the people object
to their houses being, upset and overrun by
a lot of coolies: 2,221 rooms were disinfected chemically. Of 844 villages infected in the
whole district in not more than half a dozen was any disinfection done, as there was no
demand for it.
During the latter part of the epidemic desiccation by Sawhney's stoves was intro-
duced ; 117 rooms were desiccated ; and the measure promised to become far more popular
than chemical disinfection, as the people do not have to move everything out of their houses,
it was found that with 16 seers of wood, or 18 seers of cowdung cakes, the necessay
temperature was reached within an hour.
Infection;
The infection of villages when it- could be traced was almost always found to be due
to human agency. Grain or other articles of
merchandise were never known to be the
means of conveying infection.
Rats.
In many villages the outbreak of plague among human beings followed mortality
amongst rats after a lapse of about ten days.
At the beginning of an epidemic rats were
frequently found dead in the fields adjacent to the infected village and during the epidemic
they disappeared from every house in the village. When the epidemic was at an end they
were observed to again make their appearance in the villagers' houses. No steps were taken,
by the villagers to destroy rats, but it was observed that the keeping of cats is becoming more-
common in villages in the district. Some experiments were made by officers on plague duty
with tar and sulphuric acid for destroying rats. The experiments were, however, not successful.
In addition to rats other animals stated by the villagers to have been attacked with plague
were buffaloes, oxen, goats, cats and dags.