17
On the I7th February inquiry was requested as to the accuracy of the
returns from Hyderabad town that all cases occurring were imported. At that
date, 33 cases and 28 deaths had been so described, as under :—
Week ending
"
"
"
"
"
"
8th January
15th "
22nd
"
29th
"
5th February
12th
"
19th "
Cases.
... 2
... 9
... 5
... 3
... 3
... 6
... 5
Deaths.
2
8
5
2
3
5
3
On the 10th February the Collector had been asked to give up his tour
and make Hyderabad his head-quarters, which he did immediately, reaching
Hyderabad on the 17th. With the exception of a flying visit to Tando Alahyar
on the 27th and 28th, Mr. Dodgson remained at Hyderabad till his health
obliged him to take furlough. On arrival, Mr. Dodgson found much Municipal
activity, though the measures he had urged during a visit paid to Hyderabad
at the end of January had not progressed so rapidly as he had hoped.
The President of the Municipality is Mr. Hiranand, who, like Mr. Tahil-
rarn in Karachi, stuck to his post, and evinced a true appreciation of the
gravity of the visitation and the necessity of active and cordial co-operation on
the part of the people. The disease was new, and the measures must be new.
At the end of January, house-to-house inspection was commenced by Municipal
officers, and in the middle of February the town was divided into 10 divisions,
each of which was placed, at the suggestion of Surgeon-Major R. Baker, the
Civil Surgeon, in charge of a European officer, the Military officers cordially
volunteering to assist. Each divisional officer had working under him one or
two sub-divisional officers, who were mostly Municipal Commissioners. The
efforts of these officers were directed to cleaning and limewashing the 12,000
houses that composed the town. In passing, it may be remarked that this
work, as in Karachi, was most carefully executed.
In a letter received from the Civil Surgeon on the 9th February, Surgeon-
Major Baker remarked that the cases were as a rule treated in their own houses
and after the case ended, the house, bedding, &c., were dealt with. The attention
of the Collector was drawn to this remark. If the Municipality wished to
escape the scourge, they must at the very beginning isolate the sick and segregate
the family and attendants. If this could not be done by taking the whole
family, including the sick person, to sheds outside the town, then the healthy
members must be made to vacate, leaving only necessary attendance. No per-
sons arriving from Karachi should be allowed to enter the town till they have
been under observation for 10 days. A copy of these instructions was sent for
guidance to the Collector of Shikárpur and to the Deputy Commissioners.
Mr. Dodgson acted with energy. He insisted on the Municipality rnaking
house- to -house inspection a reality, and stated that, where the sick person was
not too ill to be moved, the removal to sheds would be enforced. He explained
that detention against arrivals from Karachi had already been discussed with
the Civil Surgeon and the President, but owing to the subterfuges that would
be resorted to after a day or two, it would be impracticable to recognise a person
as hailing from Karachi. Later on, at Shikárpur, this difficulty was met by
stopping everybody, but at this period of the epidemic the authorities had
enough discontent to deal with inside the town.
On the 23rd of February Mr. Dodgson proceeded to take action himself,
and with the assistance of Mr. Hiranand, the President, he caused the evacua-
tion of about 100 families from a group of houses where cases had been increas-
ing. On the ! 7th February, Surgeon-Major Baker had noted that the interval
in one case of 18 days after arrival from. Karachi was a questionable " im.
ported" case. On the 26th, or three days after the commotion occasioned by
the evacuation, the first two local cases occurred, though not reported till the
28th. During the week ending the 26th February, there were no cases, local
B 1440—5