White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1915-05-30
DOCTOR SAYS REPORTS
WERE EXAGGERATED
Continued from page one.)

aim is simply. as | stated before, a
plain statement of the facts as | see
them.
To begin with, on May 9TH ! no.
titled the board of county commits
sioners hat a contagious disease had
been epidemic in Ely for perhaps a
period of thirty days. ! stated then
that the identity of the disease had
been a matter of question. its APP
pearance being so transitory in most
cases as to defy definite recognition
and diagnosis. Regardless of the
identity of the disease, | advised the
commissioners that its spread should
be stopped, and they Immediately
gave me authority to adopt what
ever measures | saw fit. and they
and urgent ACCESSIBILITY of restricting
the disease to the City of Ely, If
possible.
I Immediately began the quaran-
timing of the houses and individuals
suffering from the disease. The fol-
lowing day, on May 9Th, the county
health board of White Pine county,
consisting of County Physician Rich
ardson, the board of county commits
sioners and the sheriff, net and
methods calculated 70 check the
spread of the epidemic were dis
cussed. This board provided for the
cooperation of DR.. Richardson and
myself, and after a consultation Of
all the physicians of Ely we decided
that the disease was smallpox. We
also decided that the measures which
would prevent the spread of the dis
ease were, in order of their impor-
lance, free vaccination, q~uarantinins
of all houses and individuals suffer
ing from the disease. disinfection OF
exposed individuals and disinfection
of the houses wherein the disease
existed, after the recovery of the in
divlduals attacked.
The county commissioners in
structed the sheriff TO provide us
with as many deputies as were re-
quired to enforce the quarantine.
They desired that we leave no stone
unturned to keep the disease within
its bounds. We Immediately estab-
lished a rigid quarantine and with
the exception of a few instances, the
requirements of this quarantine were
conscientiously observed.
On May 9th we quarantined ter
houses in which there were sixteen
cases of the disease. At the present
writing there are five houses under
quarantine in which there are ten
individuals suffering from smallpox.
OF these In individuals five are near
ly we'll and will be released from
quarantine within two or three days.
Two houses will be disinfected to-
morrow or next day and the occu-
pants dllONSu u AhihSit phpiiNt3.
If any comment is necessary upon
the effectiveness of this quarantine
and the disinfection methods we have
used after the dismissal of the oecu-
pants ofathe infected houses, | will
say that ! believe not n of these
present cases was exposed after the
establishment of the quarantine.
To be sure there is yet time for
other individuals to break out with
the disease, but from present indi-
cations it seems that there will be
very few such cases.
Free vaccination to date has been
made in upwards of six hundred in
dividuals. In not n of these cases
of vaccination has there been any
severe or even mildly alarming
symptoms. Probably 10 per cent of
the vaccinations have taken. When
you consider that many of these vac
cinations have been performed upon
individuals who have been previously
successfully vaccinated, this percent
age is very gratifying. In our school
census which | personally took, !
found that so per cent of the school
children have already been vaccinat-
ed, and possibly 25 per cent have had
what they considered smallpox. This
leaves an unprotected 25 per cent,
which, under the institution of free
vaccination, is rapidly dwindling,
This is a fair statement of the sit
uation as 1t exists today. However,
it is interesting to consider a few
facts concerning the commencement
OF the epidemic and its subsequent
spread. Perhaps the first case to ap-
pear in the district appeared along
about February 18th. This case was
SO mild that before a diagnosis could
be made it disappeared.
About ter days thereafter the dis