Yellow fever: its nature, diagnosis, treatment and prophylaxis, and quarantine regulations relating thereto / by Officers of the US Marine-Hospital Service, together with an abstraction of the report of the medical officers detailed as a commission to investigate the cause of yellow fever.

  • United States Public Health Service
Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Yellow fever: its nature, diagnosis, treatment and prophylaxis, and quarantine regulations relating thereto / by Officers of the US Marine-Hospital Service, together with an abstraction of the report of the medical officers detailed as a commission to investigate the cause of yellow fever. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    B.—Eailroajd trafpio prom an infected town. Tlirougb. traffic, i. e., to points incapable of receiving yellow-fever infection, to be designated hereafter as points north, the ])lace8 capa- ble of receiving infection being designated as points south. (1) Freight.—Freight of any usual kind in sealed cars can go without hindrance through to destination. : Freight cars which are ventilated passing to points north were, how- ever, disinfected (bichloride 1-500) at New Orleans to pass through Southern territory, and I believe this to be advisable. (2) ^/mjpttes.—Cars, clean, need no disinfection. Box cars, clean and dry and closed, are incapable of conveying infection. If open, the same is, I believe, true, especially if not parked open in a specially infected place. They must be carefully inspected for tramps. (3) Mail.—Is under the same rule as other freight, modified by the location of distributing points. Parcels other than mercantile sample packages shall be barred. It is an easy problem. Eailroad mail is also to be attended to. (4) Passengers.—Traffic to points north can be allowed by preventing all chance of such passengers conveying infection en route, either by themselves leaving the train, returning to points south, or by fomites; Diainly their clothing. Now, as a rule people travel in clean clothes and are well when they start. The risk from the clothes which they have on, while it exists, is not great. The risk from a case of yellow fever developing en route is practically nil if ordinary precautions be taken, as it takes some (Jays—three is probably the minimum—for such a case to infect his environment. Besides, experience has shown that such cases seldom occur. This traffic should be on a special train, which should not carry other passengers. A sanitary inspector must accompany this train beyond the quarantined territory, under whose absolute sanitary charge the train is, and who will prevent communication by persons or possible foraites with this territory, and carry out other sanitary regulations. It is best that these men, especially the first relay of them, be physi- cians and immnnes. The coaches which carry these passengers must be disinfected before they come South again. Unless they stand some time in the infected town, which they should not, there is no need to disinfect them there. Before these people are allowed to go North, we must be assured that they will remain there to cover the period of incubation of yellow fever (say ten days) or indefinitely, i. e., after frost. Disinfection of baggage is not necessary for the latter. If, however, they will return after a time to points South, their baggage must be dis- infected on departure. Indeed, if there be any reasonable doubt of
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