360
[CHAP, XL
Week ending
November 5th, 1897*
„
21st „
„
19th ,,
,, 26th „
PALANPUr TOWN.
Population.
Census of
1891.)
21,092
Cases.
44
24
9
2
Deaths.
37
2
7
4
Week ending
January† 7th, 1898.
„
14th
„
„ 21st
„
„
28th „
NASIK TOWN.
Population.
(Census of
1891.)
24,429
Cases.
49
23
18
7
Deaths.
45
32
12
9
*Palanpur.—Evacuation complete on 2nd November 1897.
† Nasik.—Evacuation complete on 10th January 1898.
Re-occupation was began on the 15th December 1897. After re-occupation several
imported cases were found, one of which was concealed in various quarters of the town for
some ten days ; but by always evacuating and disinfecting large areas round each imported
case, indigenous plague was avoided up to the week ending 81st March 1899, when 2 cases
with 1 death were reported. Some 9 cases, all of which proved fatal, occurred in the
next two weeks, but there have been none since. The total number of cases was 674 (in-
cluding January and February), and of deaths 413 ; percentage mortality, 61·2.
Palanpur District.
In spite of the epidemic in Pálanpur Town during March and April 1897, plague
was not reported from any other part of the State till October
1897.
Lieutenant Rainier was single-handed, and, beyond
paying flying visits to the affected villages, could not do much towards combating the epide-
mic; and the infection spread to no less than 53 villages. In each case it is said to have
been clearly traced to persons arriving either from the town or from infected village.
In the month of November three Staff Corps Officers arrived for the purpose of super-
vising the arrangements in the villages and carrying out disinfection work. From October
to the end of December 1897, the system of obtaining information of fresh cases was
somewhat defective, the Patel and Haváldár making a daily inspection of the village for
detection of suspicious cases only. But from the beginning of January 1898 to the end of
the epidemic in April, all cases of sickness or death were reported daily, and the infected circle
divided into four quarters, each in charge of an European officer, who was accompanied
by a native gentleman, a medical subordinate, and one or more disinfecting parties. Lists
were also kept up of villages in each quarter and of the inhabitants of each village, and a
system of roll-call instituted.
Evacuation, too, was, as a rule, carried out partially in most of the villages attacked during
the former period, except when it was found that cases continued to occur in different quar-
ters of the village. Thus, out of the 25 villages infected between October and December
1897, 8 only were at once completely evacuated ; the rest were partially vacated, but had
eventually to be wholly cleared. In these villages 407 cases with 302 deaths occurred up
to December ; and 209 cases and 152 deaths afterwards, the average mortality being over
73 per cent. During the latter period, it was decided to carry out immediate and complete
evacuation on first report of plague or discovery of dead rats in any village. Twenty-eight
villages were attacked during this period, and the people of all except 5 villages, which
could not be immediately evacuated, were turned out with the following result, 337
cases, 202 deaths and 60 per cent. case mortality.
Re-occupation was allowed after 21—28 days from the date of the last case. With a
few exceptions, each village community was medically examined before re-occupation. The