The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-03-18
s+
FLY AS A
DISEASE CARRIER
NEW YORK BUREAU ISSUES RE-
PORT ON THE SUBJECT. IL
GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF A. Sum.
MER's ANTI.FLY WoRk-RE-
Suits OF INSPECTION. :

New York. Post: Following an cf4s
for to determine the Importance of
the house fly in the transmission Of
disease among infants. the Bureau Of
Public Health and Hygiene of the As5
ISOLATION of Improving the Condition.
OF the Poor las published q bulletin.
giving an account OF a summers anti
fly work in a. c~ongested district.
In the report DR.. Donald B. ARM,
strong, superintendent of the bureaus,
says: although a multitude Of dis
eases, az regards their transmiSsions~
have from time to time been ascribed
to the house fly, nevertheless serious.
consideration of the matter seems to-:
produce an elimination OF the majOr%.'
ity OF these as negligible. There DO
remain, however, two diseases con-
corning which the evidence against the
house fly seems to be decidedly ina
eliminating. These two diseases are.
typhoid fever and the d%iarrhoeal dis
ease Of infancy. In the matter of ty-
phoid fever, DR.. Terry. health officer
Of Jacksonville, Fla, a greatly re-.
duced the death rate by cleaning UP
vacant lots and by other. methods die;
rected not only toward the elimination
Of fy-breeding nuisances, but also to-
wards the destruction Of fly injecting
n~uisances. ,
The case against the fly that deea:
not wipe its feet in the diarrhoeal
disease accusation is somewhat differ
ent. Here, again, another southern.
city, Richmond, Va, under the direc-
ton OF DR.. Levy, has demonstrated be-
yond doubt that the fly is Of import
ance under southern conditions in
the transmission OF the disease. BY
proper methods of screening, DIR. levy
has greatly reduced summer diarrhoea
among infants in Richmond. the blocks
in which the children arc protected.
from flies showing a clean~Cut de-
crease in morbidity n mortality in
contrast to the surrounding blocks.
not protected. Such a study as this:
had never been made in the north. =
1.-THE district selected for Ehe re-
search work in New York city was
the southwestern part Of the Borough
Of the Bronx. This is an area in@.
habited solidly by Italians. presenting
u~nsanitary conditions, characterized
by high infant mortality rates and
boasting all the equipment neces-
sary for the lively perpetuation and
existence Of the house fly. CircumS.
stances here were such as to insure,
a short circuit in the circle which the
fly Is supposed to make between filth
and food. The two sections selected
were comparable in nearly every re-
spect. In each "a all Of the families
we're Italian. The total population
was practically the same, as was the
infant population. Housing conditions
were similar and uniform.
1.-THE actual period OF weekly
medical inspection lasted for fifteen
weeks. The methods adopted TO OPP
pose the fly were many. Thorough
instruction was given the mothers
and the effect Of this work was supple
ponnfnI Hxr fhn liberalization nf HfnTofJrn
in Italian and English, describing and
depicting house-ffy dangers; windows
and doors were screened; but it was
found that during the warm weather
1t was practically impossible to keep
the screens either in or closed. Streets
were cleaned, tenements cleaned, and
court-ways, yards n stables cleared"
Tables showing the sanitary cleanup
and general morbidity in the two dis
tricts were as follows: Total sickness
in the cleaned-up area, 10; in the
filthy area, 1866; non-communicable
cases in c~leaned-up area, SO; in the
filthy one, 40: communicable cases in
the cleaned-up area, "A; in the filthy
one, 1876: possible fy-borne cases ia
the cleaned-up area, %; in the filthy
one, IS. =
In the comparative table of diarr-
hoeal disease by age groups there were
IL cases among infants in the pro-
tected area, n 10 in the outside area
among children OF from / to S years.
there were s cases in the protected
area, and 80 in the outside one: among
children Of from 5 to IS years, there
were no cases in the protected area. and
2 In the outside one; among those OF
from Is to 80 years Of age, there were
no cases in the protected area, and L
case in the outside one; there were No
cases among those Of from 80 to SO
years of age or over in either area.
In the length Of duration the disease
lasted much longer in the unprotected
zone than in the other. -