The New York herald., 1921-03-06
New York in No Danger of Epidemic
Modern Sanitary Methods Could Check Quickly an Out
break of Typhus Other Disease from Abroad.

partments OF health. which should bt
prepared to assume their part of the
responsibility II emergencies occur. Al
attempt TO secure 100 per cent of safety
in dealing with outbreaks Of infectious
disease always falls. This means the
enforcement of regulations which arc
impractical. drastic and even brutal
They cause unnecessary Inconvenience
and hardship for those who travel BY
sea and seriously injure the business
OF the country.
When maritime quarantine was firs'
organized the "fomites" theory. whicf
holds that any exposed article is able
to transmit infectious agents. was gu
prerne. Although this is fallacious
belief. 1t unfortunately still exists to a
certain extent. 1t is only within the
last twenty-five or thirty years thai
those who have given careful practical
investigation to the subject have beer
convinced that the incitants of infec.
ton are commonly transmitted by per-
sons and not by things. This knowledge
is OF great value 10 those who are re-
sponsible for the public health for II
siInplifles their work and allows them
to give close attention to the examina-
tion and observation OF persons brought
under. their Jurisdiction, who. when in
fectious diseases occur. constitute the
important medium Of infection. and not
vessels, cargoes. baggage and the like.
First Glass Passengers Safe.
During my quarantine service, which
covered a period of fifteen years, never
found a case of typhus fever, plague
or cholera among the first class passen-
gers on vessels arriving from foreign
ports, and rarely o case Of any form Of
infectious diseases. although cases of
quarantinable disease were frequently
detected among the steerage passengers
of these vessels who had come from in
fected centres principally in the East.
First class passengers live and travel
under healthful environments they rarely
visit infected centres: If so, they pro-
tect themselves while there; further
more, they have nothing to do with
Therefore 1t Is manifestIy improper and
unreasonable that they should be held
at Quarantine except so far as it is
necessary to ascertain their physical
condition, where they have been for an
indicated period prior to their embarka-
tion and to obtain their home address.
After this information was obtained and
they were found free from infectious dis
eases they were allowed to proceed to
the city. Although the result of this
plan was kept under careful observation
during my term OF service as Health
Officer of the Port. there was no evil
dence presented that any unpleasant oc-
currences followed.
Among second cabin passengers there
may occasionally be found one or more
OF the type Of steerage passengers, and
these may have previously affiliated with
them In transit from the interior, but hav-
ing sufficient funds concluded to travel
second class. This must be borne in
mind in dealing with this grade Of pas
sengers. Steerage passengers. particu-
larly those arriving from the East, are
commonly ignorant unclean in their
habits and usually come from centres
where nlth and poverty and overcrowd-
ing exist and where some form OF quar-
antinable disease Is present; therefore
they constitute a distinct menace to the
public health and should be subjected
to most careful examination at both
the port of departure and the port
of destination. The examination should
be made not only to detect well marked
cases of diseases but more important
still. the mild ambulant or irregular
ones which constitute the most danger
Gus medium of infection. for they are
quite apt to pass unrecognized and
transmit infectious agents TO others
The Real Barrier.
have no desire to belittle the danger
of tho louise as a medium OF infection
in typhus fever; however, I believe the
Importance OF absolute delousing is over
emphasized. AS a result of experience,
i do not believe It is necessary to carry
out this process except in dealing with
cases of typhus fever or cases suspicious
OF this disease. The louise is an objec-
tionable parasite and delousing may well
measures of personal cleanliness, but not
as an Indispensable and vital safeguard
against pestilence. Furthermore. this
renovating process should be carried
out at ports OF departure and not at
United States ports.
may say in conclusion that every city
and town throughout the United States
should be under the observation OF an
efficient health officer who is capable OF
dealing promptly with outbreaks OF in
fectious diseases or suspects which may
appear in his locality. possibly due to
some infected person who has passed
quarantine unrecognized. Unfortunately
many of the small towns throughout the
country have no health officer-fro-
quently the health officer is n layman.
entirely incompetent TO deal with emer-
gencies--and II is largely for these rea-
sons that extended outbreaks frequently
occur throughou. the United States.