Arizona republican., 1910-11-17
AGAINST
 FOREIGN INFECTION
HOW THE GOVERNMENT LOOKS
 AFTER THE PUBLIC HEALTH.
One of Many Possible illustrations of
 Cooperation in Sanitary Work.

A very fine illustration of the ad- vantages of having a well organized and active branch of the government
 engaged in looking after the public
 health of the nation. cooperating with similar state institutions, is fur nished in Arizona just now by an in cident that shows just one of many lines of protecting activity. This per tains to the espionage the government keeps on all immigrants to the country
 from localities that may be possible sources of infection from contagious diseases.
 The reader will no doubt recall that few weeks ago considerable alarm
 was created by the arrival in New York of two or three ships from Mediterrane-. an ports where cholera has been work ing havoc, and that among their passen- gers one or more had died of cholera. several were sick and under suspicion. While hundreds were held in quanan- tine under inspection
 No one knows what the raVages of cholera would be if it once gained foothold in this country, but the gov ernment does not propose that it shall
 be given an entering wedge. The prac- tice of the immigration department un- der the health authorities is to not merely quarantine and hold the sick but to keep track of every person whom 1t is believed may by any possibility carry disease germs, even after he has been given personally a clean bill of health, until such time as it is certain latent infection cannot be developed
 To that end Dr. F. S Godfrey was informed two or three weeks ago that a certain person had arrived in New York on an infected ship. had remained in quarantine the required time. had been discharged as perfectly well and bearing no evidence of disease, and aft CT his discharge had bought ticket for Bisbee. Arizona. Since then he has been notified of a similar case, the immigrant being bound for Ash Fork Pursuant to custom Dr. Godfrey noti- fies the health officers in the counties of destination as we'll as the local health officers in the incorporated towns or villages if they are sufficiently pOpu- lous to have any authorities to notify. Meantime the immigrants probably do not know they are being watched. but they are just the same. If they pro- ceed to continue well. eventually sus- piciOn will be removed. But if any such person is taken seriously i'll of any disease he will b either openly or secretly watched, if the authorities do their duty. for the slightest indication that their affection may be due to the ofo ipF sa-
 This is not merely true of cholera patients or of the patients sent to Ari- zona. but is true of every passenger on a ship suspected of carrying infection | of epidemic or contagious disease that is hard to eradicate.
 The notification to pr. Godfrey came | from the commissioner of immigration 1 who is subordinate to the department i of commerce and labor Nor is this | the only safeguard, but is only illus | tFative of many and devious ways ! through which the health of the na- tiOn is protected. In the first place | the immigrants are given physical ex- 1 animation before they sail from the | foreign port. Then they are examined | by the port officials on arrival, and if | under suspicion they finally pass be- fore the special examiners herein re- ferred to. This is not an especially | new regulation. but it is custom that | few people. dwelling far inland are ia | miliar with. Moreover the fact that out of the cholera infected ships two have already come to Ari- zona. shows how rapidly and how gen orally disease from a foreign land might be disseminated throughout the cOun try were it not for these restrictive measures