NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
393
APP. IX. ]
sprëad of infection by sea.
the action to be taken should a case of plague be discovered among the
persons examined on shore previous to their embarkation. It appears
to the Government of India necessary that a rule should be inserted
prescribing that in this event the sick person and his non-professional
attendants should be prevented from embarking and segregated on
shore that the baggage of these persons should not be embarked, and
that articles likely to be contaminated should be disinfected on shore.
4, In a marginal note to proviso (i) of rule 3 it is stated that no
vessel, even if she has started from a port in the Madras Presidency,
may sail from the port of Madras to Burma without medical inspec-
tion as prescribed in the regulations under reference. But it would
appear from the preamble of the regulations that they apply only to
vessels sailing for ports out of India. The Governments of India
understand that the regulations for the inspection of vessels sailing
from Madras ports to Burma contained in the Notification of the
Government of Madras, No. 162, dated the 26th February, are super-
seded by the present regulations.
But if this is the case, then it would appear to the Government of
India to be desirable that it should be definitely stated in the preamble
that the rules apply to vessels bound for Burma. The point is not
one of great importance, but the rules should in all respects be accu-
rate in form as well as in substance, as they will remain the model for
future rules in the event of their being required.
Extract from the Proceedings of the Government of Madras, Marine Department,
No. 842, dated the 27th September 1897.
No. 101.
READ the following paper :—
No. 949-337-G., dated the 17th September 1897.
From—COMMANDER H. A. STREET, R.I.M., Presidency Port Officer,.
Madras,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Madras, Marine Department.
With respect to Marine Department Notification No. 167, dated
nth September 1897, published in the Fort St. George Gazette of
I4th September 1897, Part I, page 1167, I beg to bring to notice that
in the bill of health form therein given, there is nothing that provides-
for the inspection of persons not on the ship's articles, and who are
not passengers, such as the private servants of officers and engineers.
These men are neither shown on the ship's articles nor on the pas-
sengers' list. The master also is not mentioned in the form nor the
engineers, who in the merchant service are not usually included in
the expression "officer" ; I therefore submit that the words "including
officers and able-bodied seamen " should be deleted, and the words
c 50
394
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. IX. -
" including master, mates, engineers, apprentices and private servants
when the latter are not mentioned in the ship's articles " be substitut-
ed, in order to include every person employed on board as distingu-
ished from passengers. The expression "able-bodied seamen" seems
out of place, for the expression " seaman " according to section 742
of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894 includes " every person (except
masters, pilots and apprentices duly indentured and registered) em-
ployed or engaged in any capacity on board any ship."
No. 842 (Marine), dated the 27th September 1897.
Order thereon by the Government of Madras, Marine Department.
The amendment of the form of bill of health proposed by the
Presidency Port Officer is approved and will be adopted. The follow-
ing notification will be issued accordingly :—
NOTIFICATION.
The form of bill of health prescribed in rule 3 of the regulations,
published as Notification No. 167, dated nth September 1897, in tne
Fort St. George Gazette of the 14th September 1897, P ar t I, page
1167, will be amended as follows :—
For the words " including officers and able-bodied seamen," read
"including master, mates, engineers, apprentices and private servants
when the latter are not mentioned in the ship's articles."
No. 102;
Extract from the Proceedings of the Government of Madras, Marine Department,
No. 745, dated the 23rd August 1897.
Read again-
General Order No. 6or (Marine), dated 6th July 1897.
Ordered that the following Notification be published in the Fort St.
George and all Maritime District Gazettes :—
NOTIFICATION.—In exercise of the powers delegated to him by
the Governor General in Council under section 2, sub-section (3) of
the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, His Excellency the Governor in
Council is pleased to prescribe, under the said Epidemic Diseases Act,
the following temporary regulations to be observed in all ports of the
Madras Presidency. These regulations will supersede those now in
force and which are published on pages 601—604, Part I of the Fort
St. George Gazette of the 11th May 1807.
Definition,
I. In these regulations—
(1) " Vessel" includes anything made for the conveyance by
water of human beings or of property,
395
APP. IX. ]
spread of infection by sea.
(2) " Port Officer" includes any person acting under the author-
ity of Government in charge of port discipline.
(3) "Master " when used in relation to any vessel means any
person (except a pilot or harbour master) having for the
time being the charge or control of the vessel.
O
O
(4) " Sanitary authority " means the Collector of the District,
and the Municipal Council or Local Board, the area
under whose jurisdiction includes or abuts on any part of
a customs port. Where a customs port is included within
or abuts on the jurisdiction of more than one of the
authorities above mentioned, the Governor in Council
shall appoint which of them shall be the sanitary authority
for the purpose of these regulations, or he may distribute
among them, in such manner as he may deem fit, the
duties imposed by these regulations. The jurisdiction of
every sanitary authority shall, for the purposes of these
regulations, extend to seaward for a distance of three
miles beyond low water mark on all parts of the coast
line bounding the area ordinarily under its jurisdiction.
(5) " Port Health Officer" includes any duly qualified medical
practitioner appointed by a sanitary authority or by the
Local Government to act in the execution of these regu-
lations.
(6) "Observation" means segregation either on board a vessel,
or in an isolation camp or place.
(7) " Surveillance " means that the person subjected to it will
not be isolated ; they will at once obtain free pratique,
but will be kept under medical supervision.
2. (1) " Infected " used with reference to a vessel denotes any
vessel with plague on board, or on board which one or
more cases have taken place within twelve days.
(2) " Suspected " used with reference to a vessel denotes any
vessel on board which there has been a case of plague at
the time of departure, or during the voyage, but on which
no fresh case has occurred for twelve days.
(3) " Healthy" used with reference to a vessel denotes any
vessel which has come from, or which during the voyage
has touched at, an infected port, but which has had no
death, or case of plague on board, either before departure,
during the voyage or on arrival.
3. The master of every "infected," " suspected " or " healthy "
vessel shall, when within three miles of the coast of any part of the
396
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. IX.
-Madras Presidency, cause to be hoisted at the foremast head the
Commercial Code flag Q being a yellow flag, and shall keep the same
•displayed during the whole time between sunrise and sunset, If any
-person on board such vessel be at the time suffering or suspected to be
suffering from the plague, the master shall also hoist the Commercial
Code flag R below the yellow flag Q. Any such vessel arriving at a
port after dark shall hoist on coming to an anchor one white light at
the foremast head and one red light at the mainmast head.
4. The master of any such vessel shall before arriving at an
anchorage pump out the bilge-water, if possible, after disinfection,
and pass fresh sea water over the parts that have been in contract
with the bilge-water. The bilge-water shall not be discharged within
port limits.
5. The Port Officer on the arrival of any vessel displaying the flag
or flags or light cr lights aforesaid, or if he ascertains from the master
of such vessel, or otherwise has reason to believe, that the vessel is
infected, suspected or healthy from an infected port, shall detain such
vessel, and order the master forthwith to moor or anchor the same in
such place as may be fixed by him ; and the master shall moor or
anchor accordingly : Provided that in the case of any ship which has
not communicated with the shore, the master if he objects to submit
to the obligations imposed by these regulations shall be free to put
back to sea. In such case the Port Officer shall send immediate
information to the sanitary authorities of the port in India, Burma or
Ceylon to which the vessel is bound or at which she is next about to
call.
6. While a vessel shall be so detained, no person shall leave the
same.
7. The Port Officer, on the approach to the port of any vessel dis-
playing the flag or flags or light or lights aforesaid, or on his detaining
any vessel as aforesaid, shall forthwith give notice thereof and of the
cause of such detention to the Sanitary authority of the port, and also
to the Port Health Officer.
8. The detention by the Port Officer of a vessel under Regulation 5
shall cease as soon as the vessel shall have been, as hereinafter provid-
ed, duly visited and examined by the Port Health Officer or, if the
vessel shall, upon such examination, be found to be infected or suspect-
ed as soon as the same shall be moored or anchored in pursuance of Re-
gulations 9 and 13.
9. The Sanitary authority shall, as speedily as practicable, with the
approval of the Port Officer, fix some place where vessels may be
moored or anchored for the purpose of Regulation 13; and shall'
397
APP. IX, ]
spread of infection by sea.
make provision for the reception of plague-patients and other per-
sons removed from vessels under these regulations. The place to
be fixed as aforesaid, where any vessel may be moored or anchored for
the purpose of Regulation 13, shall be some place within the jurisdic-
tion of the Sanitary authority, unless the local Government otherwise
orders in which case the place so fixed shall, for the purposes of these
regulations, be deemed to be within such jurisdiction.
10. On receiving the notice prescribed by Regulation 7 the Port
Health Officer shall forthwith visit and examine the vessel, in regard
to which such notice shall have been given, for the purpose of ascertain-
ing whether she is infected, suspected or healthy. He shall also do so
if he has reason to believe that any vessel which has arrived or is
within the jurisdiction of the Sanitary authority, whether detained by
the Port Officer or not, is infected or suspected, or has come from or
touched at a port where plague prevails. The master of such vessel
shall permit it to be so visited and examined and shall afford all reason-
able facilities for such examination as the Port Health Officer may
deem requisite.
11. For the purpose of ascertaining the state of the vessel as
aforesaid, the Port Health Officer may demand from the doctor of
the ship, or, failing him, from the master a declaration on oath whether
there has been or has not been a case of plague on the ship since her
departure, or whether any person suffering or suspected to be suffering
from the plague has left or been removed from the vessel prior to or
during the voyage, and all particulars relative to any such circum-
stance ; and the doctor or the master, as the case may be, shall be bound
to make a true declaration to the best of his knowledge and belief.
12. When the Port Health Officer has made such examination as
aforesaid, he shall forthwith give a certificate in duplicate in the
following form, or to the like effect, and shall deliver one copy to the
master and transmit the other to the Sanitary authority. He shall
also, if the vessel is infected or suspected, give immediate information
of the fact to the Sanitary Commissioner for Madras.
Certificate.
clay of 189 .
1 hereby certify that I have examined the vessel
, of
, now lying in the port of
(or detained at
), and that I find that
she is
(a) " infected " with plague,
(b) " suspected," or
398
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. IX.
(c) " healthy" from an infected port (as the case'may be).
(Signed)
Port Health Officer.
13. The master of any vessel certified by the Port Health Officer
to be "infected" or "suspected" shall thereupon moor or anchor her
if he has not already done so at the place fixed for that purpose under
Regulation 9 where she shall remain until the requirements of these
regulations have been duly fulfilled, and from which she shall not depart
without the written or, where communication with the vessel is imprac-
ticable owing to stress of weather, the signalled permission of the Port
Health Officer.
14. No person shall leave any- such vessel until the examination
hereinafter prescribed shall have been made.
15. (1) The Port Health Officer shall, as soon as possible, after a
vessel has been certified as infected, suspected or healthy, examine
every person on board the same.
(2) If any person on board any such vessel is found to be suffering
from plague, or from any illness which the Port Health Officer suspects
may prove to be plague, the Port Health Officer shall certify accord-
ingly. Every person who shall be so certified by him shall, if possible,
be immediately disembarked, and shall be detained for treatment in a
suitable hospital or ward or isolation camp or other place.
(3) If the vessel is certified to be infected, all persons on board
shall be kept under observation or surveillance, as the Port Health
Officer may determine, and shall, if possible, be disembarked for the
purpose.
(4) All persons kept under observation, whether on shore or on
board the vessel, shall be detained for such period as the Port Health
Officer shall in his absolute discretion prescribe with regard to the
sanitary condition of the vessel and the date of the last case of plague
which has occurred among the crew or passengers, but which shall not
exceed ten days from the date of the occurrence of the last case of
plague which has occurred on board, or which may subsequently occur
among the persons detained in such camp or place as the Sanitary
authority shall have appointed for the purpose of their detention or on
board the vessel, after which they shall, if certified by the Chief Medi-
cal Officer on the spot to be free from the infection of plague, be per-
mitted to proceed to their destination.
(5) If the vessel is certified to be suspected or healthy, all per-
sons on board who may disembark shall be subjected to surveil-
lance either at the port or their destination as the Sanitary author-
ity may direct, in the case of a suspected vessel for a period- of ten days
399
APP. IX. ]
spread of infection by sea.
from the date of the arrival of the vessel in port, and in the case of a
healthy vessel for the period necessary to complete a term of ten days
from the date of the vessel's departure from the infected port last
visited. In either case the Port Health Officer may place under observa-
tion, instead of surveillance, for a term not exceeding ten days from
such vessel's arrival at the port any person whom he may consider to
be in any way likely to carry the infection of the plague.
16. A clean bill of health shall not be granted to an infected vessel
until all the requirements of these regulations have been complied with,
nor until ten days have elapsed from the date of the last case of plague
which has occurred on board ; nor, if the person attacked has been
treated on board, until ten clays from the death or recovery of such
person.
17. In the case of a vessel certified to be suspected or healthy, a
clean bill of health shall be given, provided the requirements of these
regulations have been complied with and if ten clays have elapsed since
the vessel's departure from the infected port last visited. If ten days
have not elapsed, the vessel may be detained in quarantine at the
discretion of the Port Health Officer for the time necessary to com-
plete the period of ten days, the crew and passengers being placed
during such period under surveillance. Free pratiqiie granted at
Colombo or at an intermediate Indian or Burmese port shall be recog-
nized.
18. No port clearance shall be granted to any vessel which has
been subjected to these rules unless with the written concurrence of
the Port Health Officer.
19. No person detained for treatment or placed under observation
shall leave the camp or place or vessel in which he is detained under
treatment or observation, until the Chief Medical Officer present at
the spot shall have certified that such person is free from the infection
of the plague.
20. Every person placed under surveillance shall present himself
for examination by the Medical Officer appointed for this purpose, by
the Sanitary authority, at such times and places as such medical offi-
cer may direct.
21. If any person suffering from plague or from any illness which
the Port Health Officer suspects may prove to be plague cannot be
disembarked under Regulation 15, he may be detained on board the
vessel, which shall remain subject, for the purpose of this regulation,
to the control of the Port Health Officer. Such person shall not be
removed from or leave the vessel, except with the consent, in writing,
of the Port Health Officer ; and, if the illness from which such person
400
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. IX.
suffered is, or proves to be, plague, the vessel shall be treated as an
infected vessel.
22. Any person detained under observation or placed under sur-
veillance who is certified by the Port Health Officer or by the medi-
cal officer appointed under Regulation 19 to be suffering from plague,
or from any illness which such officer suspects may prove to be plague,
may be taken to such hospital or ward or observation camp or other
suitable place as may be appointed for that purpose by the Sanitary
authority of the port or place, and detained there until his recovery, or
for such period, not exceeding ten days, as may be necessary for as-
certaining whether his illness is, or is not, plague. The said person
shall be bound to remain in the place where he is detained and to
follow such instructions as the Sanitary authority may prescribe.
23. The Port Health Officer shall, in the case of every vessel cer-
tified to be infected or suspected, give directions for the disinfection of
all parts of the vessel which have been inhabited by plague-patients,
and he may also give such other directions for the more thorough dis-
infection of the vessel as may appear to him to be necessary for pre-
venting the spread of infection. The master of the said vessel shall
forthwith carry into execution all such directions.
24. In the event of any death from plague on board such vessel
while detained under these regulations the master shall, as directed by
the Sanitary authority, or the Port Health Officer, either cause the
dead body to be taken out to sea and committed to the deep properly
loaded to prevent its rising, or shall deliver it into the charge of the
Sanitary authority for disposal, if the former procedure be not in
accordance with caste or race customs.
25. The master shall cause to be destroyed any articles on board
his vessel that may have been soiled with plague discharges, and he
shall also cause to be disinfected or destroyed the clothing and bedding
and other articles of personal use likely to retain infection which are
on board his vessel and which have been used by any person who has
suffered from plague on board such vessel, or who, having left such
vessel, shall have suffered from plague during the stay of such vessel
in the port. If the master shall have neglected to do so, or have done
so ineffectually before the vessel arrives in port, he shall forthwith,
upon the direction of the Sanitary authority or the Port Health Officer,
cause the same to be disinfected or destroyed to the satisfaction of that
authority, and in accordance with the instructions as to disinfection
contained in the Appendix to these Regulations. If the said master
neglect to comply with any such directions within a reasonable
time, the Sanitary authority or the Port Health Officer shall cause
the same to be carried into execution at the expense of the said vessel.
401
APP. IX. ]
spread of infection by sea.
26. Provided facilities exist for obtaining suitable water in the
port, the master shall, on the direction of the Port Health Officer,
cause all tanks in an infected or suspected vessel to be completely
emptied and cleaned and disinfected in such manner as the Port
Health Officer may direct and fresh water to be taken in. The Port
Health Officer may also, if he thinks necessary, give like directions in
the case of a healthy vessel. The master of the vessel shall forthwith
carry any such direction into execution,
27. Any mails or cargo which may be brought by any vessel subject
to these regulations may be landed under such precautions as the Port
Health Officer may deem necessary to prevent the spread of the disease.
28. It will be the duty of the Port Officer to facilitate the con-
veyance to all vessels detained under these regulations of such supplies
of provisions, stores or other articles as may be required by those on
board. Such supplies will be placed on the boats of the vessel to be
subsequently removed by the crew.
29. All expenses incurred by any Sanitary authority in carrying
out these regulations shall be defrayed from Municipal or District or
Taluk Funds in such proportions as the District Collector may, subject
to the orders of the Local Government, direct.
30. Any person disobeying or contravening any of the foregoing
regulations shall be deemed to have committed an offence punishable
under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, and shall be liable on
conviction to be punished with imprisonment of either description for
a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend
to one thousand rupees, or with both.
No. 103.
No. 2091, dated Simla, the 8th September 1897.
From—J. P. HEWETT, Esq., C.LE., Secretary to the Government of
India, Home Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Madras, Local and Municipal
Department.
I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your endorsement
No. 746-Marine, dated the 23rd August, forwarding a copy of the"
Notification of the Government of Madras, No. 745-Marine, of the
same date, prescribing temporary regulations to be observed in all
ports of the Madras Presidency to prevent the introduction of plague.
2. The regulations appear to the Government of India to be gen-
erally well adapted for the protection of the ports in the Madras
Presidency on the principles laid down in the Venice Sanitary
c5i