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" 3. The history of the plague and of the plague operations in the city of Hyderabad
commences as early as October 1896, it being during the
Measures taken before the oc- course of that month that my predecessor, Mr. 0. G Dodgson,
curreuce of any imported cases.
I. C. S., addressed the President or the Municipality on the
subject of the advisability of taking precautions to prevent the spread to the city of the
bubonic fever which was at that time prevalent in Bombay. A temporary increase in the
sanitary and conservancy establishments of the Municipality and the more thorough
cleansing of the town were among the chief measures suggested, and subsequently, on the
19th December, when the plague had apparently obtained a footing in Karachi, these sug-
gestions were more emphatically brought forward, with the result that shortly after the Pre-
sident of the Municipality was able to report that the desired increase of establishment had
taken place, 18 sweepers, 6 bhistis, and a Sanitary Sub-Inspector having been brought on to
the strength of the establishment, and that large supplies of disinfectants were being ob-
tained. From the 24th December, the medical inspection of passengers by the ferry plying
between Kotri and Gidu Bandar was commenced, a special Hospital Assistant having been
deputed for the purpose. A house was rented in Gidu for the detention of any suspicious
cases that might be detected.
Occurrence of imported cases.
Adoption of more stringent mea-
sures to prevent the same.
4. On the 7th January 1897, the first imported case occurred, the person affected, a
Hindu, having succeeded in evading detection at Gidu Bandar
and making his way into the densely populated quarter around
the Dalvaini lane. During the week ending on the 13th Janu-
ary, no less than eight such imported cases occurred, seven
of which terminated fatally. The returns for the week following show exactly similar
figures, but during the week ending the 27th January only one case was detected. The
recurrence of these imported cases and the danger arising from the rapid influx of persons
seeking refuge from the spread of the pestilence in Karachi, together with the extreme
probability that cases were occurring in the city without ever being brought to light at all,
showed the urgent necessity for the adoption of more stringent measures. Accordingly, on
the 19th January, arrangements were made for the patrolling by the police of the left
bank of the river, both above and below Gidu Bandar. At the same time, with a view to
protecting the outside districts, the medical inspection of passengers leaving the city by the
Kotri-Rohri Railway was undertaken.
Continued importation of cases.
Proposals for quarantine.
5. That undetected cases were occurring with alarming; frequency is evident from the
fact that, during the week which only returned a single case,
the general mortality from all causes as compared with that of
the previous week rose from 44 to 74. The additional pre-
cautions taken do not appear to nave checked, to any appreciable extent the importation of
cases from Karachi, which continued to occur at an average of four a week. There can be
no doubt that, whether through negligence on the part of the inspecting officials or through
their being accessible to bribery, advanced cases of plague were being admitted into the
city; for it is unreasonable to suppose that in all these cases the disease had not gone fur-
ther than its incubation stage and was therefore impossible to detect by means of the some-
what cursory inspection, to which it was subjected. With a view to putting a stop to this
importation of plague cases, proposals for the imposition of strict quarantine against Karachi
were advanced, only to be rejected as totally impracticable, owing to the impossibility of
rendering it really effective and to the overwhelming disadvantages which such a measure
would necessarily entail,
Measures recommended by the
Collector.
The Municipality opposed to
segregation.
6. Towards the close of January, Mr. Dodgson strongly urged upon the Municipality
the necessity for undertaking systematic house-to-house clean-
ing and limewashing under the supervision of Municipal
Commissioners, the construction of segregation and observa-
tion camps both at Hyderabad and Gidu Pandar, and, above
all, the segregation of the apparently healthy inmates of a
house in which a case of plague had occurred. No immediate action appears to have been
taken for the carrying out of these suggestions, especially in the case of the last, the
Municipality deprecating the adoption of the proposed measure as being unduly severe and
likely to give rise to opposition on the part of the public, and advocating its postponement
to the time when the plague should have definitely localized itself in the city.
Energetic measures adopted by
the Municipality.
7. Nevertheless, on the llth February, the President of the Municipality reported
the construction of four huts in the vicinity of the railway
station, intended for the detention of suspected cases, of three
huts, slightly more removed, for undoubted cases of plague,
of two huts on the vacant ground in the rear or the old jail, to serve as a nucleus for an
extensive health camp, and, finally, of three huts at Gidu for the detention of suspected
cases detected there. At the same time notices were being served on all house-owners calling
upon them to clean and limewash their houses, and the town was divided into sections,
placed severally under the charge of Municipal Commissioners according to the Collector's
suggestion. Hand pumps for the disinfection of infected houses were requisitioned, and
arrangements were made for the sale and free distribution of lime in large quantities.
Several European gentlemen tendered their services to the Municipality at this juncture