Report upon the outbreak of plague on the Witwatersrand : March 18th to July 31st, 1904 / Rand Plague Committee.

  • South Africa. Rand Plague Committee.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report upon the outbreak of plague on the Witwatersrand : March 18th to July 31st, 1904 / Rand Plague Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    INTRODUCTORY LETTER BY Dr. PAKES. To the Chairman and Members of the Rand Plague Committee. GENTLEMEN ,— In presenting the Report of the Outbreak of Plague on the Witwatersrand, | have in the first place to record the regret which is felt by all that it is I and not Dr. Porter who presents this Report. Dr. Porter was seized with illness, thought to be influenza, on the 11th March. He returned to the office on the 16th and 17th March, and submitted urgent reports to the Council and the Public Health Committee on thos2 dates in regard to the dangerous condition of the Coolie Location, and finally failing with Enteric on March 17th, 1904, left me in charge of his work and _ by a most strange coincidence, plague was discovered on the day following his enforced absence. He was necessarily absent until the middle of May and took over the duties of Medical Officer of Health to the Rand Plague Committee at the end of May. Although Plague was not discovered until March 18th, there is no doubt that it had been responsible for several deaths in the Ccolie location during the earlier portion of that month and probably even during the months of January and February. The fact that the disease was not diagnosed earlier is entirely dependent upon the peculiar phenomenon that the whole of the earlier cases were of the pneumonic type, and the disease so very closely simulated the ordinary pneumonia of this country. Although the outbreak was continuous I have shewn that there were really two separate outbreaks, the second one being subsequent to and consequent upon the first. I have pomted out in the report the very great value of what was called the Intelligence Department, and I feel convinced that its value cannot be over-estimated, especially in view of the fact that despite some public opposition it was decided, in accordance with the recommendations of the Durban Conference, not to segregate contacts. _ At the time of writing this report it is impossible to estimate the cost of the Outbreak to the Colony, since the allocation of expenditure has not yet been made. One great item of expenditure, which will probably be placed to the plague account, viz., Klipspruit Camp, can hardly be considered a true Plague Expenditure since, if the Coolie location had not been in such a terribly insanitary condition, the drastic measures which were adopted would not have been necessary, and the consequent expenditure would have been unnecessary. Even despite this heavy expenditure I feel sure that, when the figures are published, it will be found that the cost per case will compare very favourably with those of other South African Outbreaks. Further, I feel sure that the reason of the favourable comparison lies in the fact that no expense was spared during the early period of the outbreak. The result was that from the very beginning no department was under-staffed, and therefore, all the work in connection with the suppression could be and was done both thoroughly and expeditiously. As it happened a smaller staff would have sufficed even from the commencement, but on March 21st the problem to be solved by the Rand Plague Committee had not been defined, and it was deemed necessary to employ a staff sufficient to cope with any emergency. The moment that the outbreak was in hand the staff was reduced to such an extent that it could just cope with the work successfully. Although for a short period I was nominally in charge of the plague operations, it was only because of the whole-heartedness of the entire staff that the operations were carried to a successful issue. When everyone was doing his utmost, it is difficult to call attention to anyone in particular. From the nature of their work, however, I feel that I cannot present this Report without expressing my great indebtedness to Dr. Ronald Mackenzie, the Special Plague Officer ; to Drs. Montgomery, Allan and Bettensen, the Plague Officers; to Mr. F. C. Gavin, the Transport Officer, who unfortunately broke down owing to the stress of work: to | Mr. Pittaway, who made all the purchases ; to Mr. Tomlinson, who was in charge of the Klipspruit Camp and to his able assistants, Messrs. Burgess and Jackson ; to Colonel Showers, the Commissioner of Police, for his ready and continual help throughout ; to the Medical Staff at Rietfontein, and to those nurses who volunteered and went at great inconvenience to nurse the patients ; to Mr. Leitch, the Town Engineer, and his department ; to Mr. Price, the General Manager of the Central South African Railways and his officials ; and to Mr. George Lyall, the Assistant Secretary. In conclusion I can only express my gratitude to the Rand Plague Committee, the Secretary, Mr. Feetham, and the Treasurer, Mr. Hichens, for their unfailing courtesy to myself and to all the officials of the Committee. f I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, WALTER C. C. PAKES, sometime Medical Officer of Health December 16th, 1904, to the Rand Plague Committee,
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