Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-02-17
HEALTH OF THE STATE.
A Circular From the State Board to tho
 Local Bonrd of Health.

A Circular From the State Board to the
 Local Board of Health.
 In behalf of the state board of health, Dr c. A. Lindsley of New Haven, secre- tary of the board, has just issued the following: so many cases of typhus fever in New York is a reasonable cause of apprehen- sion that the disease may invade Con- nectlcut
 Typhus fever is an eminently conta- gious disease. The mortality attending it is very high. Among the most prom inent conditions of it's appearance is over crowding. Hence it has been called ship fever, jail fever and camp fever. Crowd poisoning and semi-star- vation are its most potent predisposing causes. As it now occurs in New York it is wholly an imported pestilence. It has as yet found It's victims only among the wretched, half starved immigrants, mostly the Russian Jewish exiles who have recently arrived and who are flOcking in such numbers to this coun- try. Many of them are homeless and houseless, and will as soon as possible scatter themselves about the country seeking employment and the means of subsistence. Hence the danger to our communities. New cases of the disease taA V oPH NNAiS SAAC NOAoS1NSAASO OA contagion from contact with previous cases. During the incubative stage of this disease these infected immigrants may travel to any part of our state, and become a center of contagion for the locality.
 Notice has been received at ThIs office that the disease has appeared in Rhode Island in the person of an immigrant, ,on the steamer "Massilia," and the newspa- cYOaoly of ifS a1roo1u iVo other states where these recent immi- grants have gone. Notice is also given by the health authorities of New York that immigrants from the "Massilia" have already come into our state.
 This circular is to urge upon local boards of health the importance of un- usual vigilance, and the requirement of immediate notification on the part of physicians and lodging-house keepers, of every real or suspicious case of this disease, especially if the subject is a recent immigrant, in order that timely precautions may be taken to prevent its communication to others.
 The mortality report for January has been received from every town in the Il state except Hartford. There were l 1 ,953 deaths reported in the state during the month. This was 224 more than ln December; it was 964 more than in January, 1891, and S60 more than the average number of deaths in January for the five years preceding the present.
 The death rate was 297 for the large towns; for the small towns 34.9 and 31.4 for the whole state. The deaths from zymotic diseases were AIS, being 1914 per cent of the total mortality, against 15.2 per cent in December.
 The mortality in Connecticut in Janu- ary exceeds any previous record. The death rate was 3.5 greater than inthe preceding month. It is to be noted, too, that the death rate in the rural towns very much exceeds that in the large towns. The 245 deaths attributed to Ia grippe is not the measure of it's mor- tality. Among the 575 deaths from pneumonia and bronchitis, doubtless a large proportion would be more cor rectly charged to la grippe.