Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-07-19
HOW'D PREVENT CHOLERA.
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Memorandum Issued by the New York
State Board Of Health.

The state board Of health considers the posi-
bilites and facilities for the Introduction OF
cholera into this country too obvious to be dis
regarded. and therefore memorandum on pre-
ventive measures against the disease has been
issued. The history OF former inyasions Of chol-
era, says the board warrants the belief that its
temperance here is probable. Cholera. which
In two months of midsummer in 1866 destroyed
$1,000 lives in Egypt, reached France and Ger
many by September. and was discovered at the
New York quarantine as early as November In
the spring of 1855 it again threatened the United
States. Ii fingered in the west was returned
to Governors island. and thence found a new
departure in 1867, when ii was terribly destruc-
tive in some sections. The outbreak i'm the Mis-
slssippi valley In 1878 was traced to its intro
ductl0n by way Of New Orleans The disease
as reported In southern Europe presents the
same threatening aspects, thinks the board. as
II did In August, 1865. when ii was conveyed to
our shores in a definite manner and to about
the same series OF resting places and fatal points
OF outbreak that it now threatens to attack.
The facilities for the introduction of the dis
ease have increased since 1865. but the means OF
exact sanitary knowledge and quarantine police
for arresting and stamping out the transport
! able cause of 1t are also greater. No city which
is fully prepared for the announcement that
Asiatc cholera has come need be invaded by It
II proper sanitary care is exercised. The floods
throughout Europe and the United States the
attendant circumstances of the drying period,
the increased immigration from the Mediterra-
mean states to New York, and the destructive
malignancy of the disease, all give q warning to
be ready for Asiatic cholera.
There Is, says the state board, a specifc in
fective cause of Asiatc cholera called its con-
tagium, by which it spreads as 1apidly as the
persons suffering, ever SO lightly, from 1t 90
from place to place. In every country where the
cOntagium exists it has ceased to be repropa-
gated beyond the sanitary lines which separate
the cleansed, drained and ventilated premises
and aforementioned inhabitants from the
filthy or where polluted food and water and
harmful beverages prepare the system for the
fatal operation of the poison. For cholera to
be difused from continent to continent Il must
have as factors Tor It's cultivation center of pol
luton for it's cradle ship for its transport and
number Of towns prepared for its reception
and development. Local conditions of danger
the sanitary neglects that have prepared for a
Judgment and reprOpagatiOn of the cholera in
filthy places and sodden grounds--are found i'm
every port, city and village, and in many rural
hamlets. The prevention of propagation is
very difficult after the disease has obtained q
foothOld in any of the commercial centers The
presence Of filth, stagnant pools, polluted
water, and badly housed and imprudent people
Will invite cholera to hundreds of places in the
state II 1t once appears In any port. Now"
says the board, before the exotic infection has
come, let all local boards of health and all
househOlders lose no time In enforcing such
thorough scavenging and cleansing, such clean
Ing OF sewers. drains and bitches, and such
ventilating, drying, lime-washing, and disn-
fecting OF cellars and all damp and unclean
places that II cholera comes its infective germs
shall find no soil or foul surface in which to
propagate epidemically."
The contagfOn is not chiefly taken from the
bodies Of the sick, but the virus is proved to re-
Quire the concurrence Of attendant conditions
OF moisture and filth to produce any extended
series of cases. One great source of danger ia
that the exotic germinal matter becomes not
only infective Of persons exposed to it by water
or the atmosphere, but may. by its Infinite ra-
pidity OF reproduction, under favoring condi-
lions OF foul air and filth. rapidly become cpl
demfc within the limits of such impurity SAM
tary barriers must therefore be erected before
cholera comes. AS soon as found the disease
must be treated by vigorous isolation and de-
structive disinfecton.
Preventive sanitary measures consist in ami
hilating all local conditions which would harbOr
the disease. If the cholera germs find no
breathing place in filthy condition of premises
air. or drinking water. there is no danger The
memorandum concludes Whenever cholera
comes, as We hope it will not, a brief statement
showing how to resist cholera and what to do
In Its presence will be Immediately sent to all
parts OF the state through the local boards of
health. 1t is now the duty of local sanitary
authorities and all househOlders to inspect the
premises within their jurisdiction and promptly
cause the necessary sanitary improvements to
be made None of this work will be lost, even
were cholera effectually arrested by the barriers
OF quarantine and disnfection at the ports it
enters. The reasons for sanitary inspections
ana works are applicable to protect against
infectious and epidemic diseases generally, and
it is because i'm the midst of wet grounds and
pools, flth-sOdden surfaces, foul sinks, and pol
luted drinking waters, cholera finds local con-
ditions for its epdemics that now the general
duty is urged upon all sanitary authorities and
hOuseholders to make careful sanitary inspec-
lions; to drain all stagnant pools and low
grounds near dwellings; to clean all sewers and
house drains; to cleanse and dsinfect cellars.
privies. and all filthy places, and examine and
protect the purity OF drinking water"