8
PLAGUE IN RAJPUTANA.
abnormal, treated in hospitals have been shown separately in statement C.
There were 110 normal and 52 abnormal confinements reported from hospitals
during the year as compared with 14 and 17, respectively, in 1908.
PLAGUE.
66. During the year from 1st April 1909 to 31st March 1910, 30,549
cases of plague and 26,223 deaths were reported and 627 towns and villages
were infected in Rajputana including Ajmer-Merwara as compared with 5,619
cases and 4,944 deaths and 200 infected towns and villages in 1908-09.
The percentage of total plague deaths to population was 0.99, vide table
attached, which shows the comparative severity of epidemics in Rajputana since
1896.
67. Twenty-one thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven inoculations
were performed during the year under report at the following places:—
Ajmer City
.
.
.
.
.
.
Ajmer-Merwara Districts
.
.
.
.
.
Deoli Cantonment
.
.
.
.
.
.
Udaipur City . . . . . . .
Chitore . . . . . . . .
Kishangarh City .
.
.
.
.
.
.
Bharatpur City
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Jaipur City . . . . . . . .
Marwar
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
5,788
7,092
8,695
2,411
187
1,124
825
730
75
Plague existed in Rajputana throughout the year.
68. Ajmer-Merwara.—There were 8,746. attacks and 7,929 deaths reported
in Ajmer and Merwara districts in 1909-10 including 2,444 cases and
2,379 deaths in Ajmer City against 171 cases and 109 deaths in 1908-09.
There were 196 infected villages in the district against nine infected villages in
the previous year. The disease was in existence in Ajmer district throughout
the year, except in July.
69. Plague broke out in epidemic form in Ajmer City in August com-
mencing in the southern portion of the town. In October and November it
was at its worst in the city, but later, as the inhabitants vacated the city, it
increased in the surrounding villages and district in which there is no doubt
many of the citizens took refuge and spread the disease. Many also carried
infection to the neighbouring Native States and elsewhere.
70. In October a special plague staff was organized in addition to those
previously on plague inspection duty at the Ajmer Railway Station, under
Major W. Rothney Battye, I.M.S., who was appointed Special Plague Medical
Officer on the 15th October 1909.
71. Merwara District.—The disease appeared in this district in October ;
it was imported from Ajmer. There were 1,793 cases and 1,209 deaths reported
and 37 towns and villages were infected during the year under report. The
disease is still in existence in a less degree in both districts.
72. The measures adopted in dealing with the epidemic were as follows :—
Inoculation.—This was started early by the Civil Surgeon and his regular staff and by
the Railway Medical Staff, though at the beginning the public were chary of the remedy ;
later on, largely through the personality and energy of the Civil Surgeon, it became some-
what more popular, and by the time the special plague staff were in harness many objections
to it had been overcome.
Poor persons were re-imbursed for loss occasioned by inability to carry on their usual
duties on account of inoculation, but latterly this was not necssary as many came forward of
their own free will and made no claim ; R263-12 was paid out in this manner.
Disinfection.—The disinfectants used in disinfecting houses were kerosine oil emulsion
and pesterine, and in the city disinfection was carried out systematically.
Evacuation.—Although huts were constructed by the Municipality for the inhabitants
of Ajmer City they were never occupied. The great majority of the population left the
city for the district and elsewhere.
In the district, however, inhabitants of villages made their own arrangements, evacuating
their houses and living in temporary shelters, assistance being given when necessary.
Rat extermination.—This was tried by means of traps during the course of the epidemic
but to little effect except in Railway limits, as a large and influential section of the com-
munity objected to it on religious grounds.