Reports and papers on suspected cases of human plague in East Suffolk and on an epizootic of plague in rodents.
- Great Britain. Local Government Board.
- Date:
- 1911
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Reports and papers on suspected cases of human plague in East Suffolk and on an epizootic of plague in rodents. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![In addition to the direct Ipswich trade in grain, considerable quantities are discharged at Felixstowe Dock from the Black Sea, the River Plate, and Rosario, and it is of importance to note that a certain number of grain ships anchor annually oft' Shotley Point at the junction of the Orwell and Stour estuaries and there discharge their cargo, or such part of it as are destined for places in the vicinity. Some of it may go to Tiondon, some up the Orwell to Ipswich, up the Stour to Mistley, up the Deben to Woodbridge, and up the Alt to Orford, and some may go even further afield. It seems unnecessary to discuss this matter in further detail, as it is obvious from the foregoing facts that, as .some of these vessels come from ports which are now known to be plague-infected {i.e., certain Black Sea ports), and some come from ports which have been plague-infected within the last five years, there are, and have been, opportunities from time to time for the introduction of plague-infected rats into Ip.swich, Felixstowe Dock, Mistley, Woodbridge, and other pjaces at which grain-laden vessels or barges are accustomed to discharge their cargoes. Attention may be called to the fact that there are granaries and mills not only at Ipswich, but also at Felixstowe, Woodbridge, Mistley, and many other places, the grain being frequently con- veyed to the smaller ports by means of barges which have taken in their cargo either from some vessel or from the granaries at Ipswich. Reference must also be made to the fact that grain is not infrequently introduced into East Anglian ports from the London Docks, and it has to be realised that grain may be carried to the smaller ports by barges not only from Ipswich, Shotley, and Butterman’s Bay, but also from the London Docks. In other words, this barge traffic may ]>ossibly at times afford opportunities for the introduction of rats to the smaller ports. I am informed that rats are but rarely seen on these barges, and it would be easy to exaggerate risk in this sense. But, on the other hand, there can be no question that these barges do offer facilities for rat transference, and on making some inquiries at one of the smaller ports recently, I was informed that occasionally rats are seen on the barges, and that in one instance, what was apparently a black rat {Mns rattua), was caught on a grain barge alongside a wharf—the possible significance of which fact is obvious.* London Manure rn lirlntwn to the Rat Ejnzootic. At an early date in this investigation relative to rat plague, suggestions were made that the disease had been introduced into the Samford peninsula, and, possibly elsewhere, though the agency of manure from foreign cattle ships which discharge their cattle in the Thames, and, it was alleged, send their manure in barges to the Orwell. As an illustration of the conveyance of Mus rattus by vessels, it is recorded m the annual report of the Port Medical Officer of Health of Liverpool that during the year 1909 of 2,509 rats caught on board vessels or procured from the docks were examined, the majority belonged to Mus rattus. Of .S29 rats specially examined for the purpose of identification 229 belonged to Mus rattus. .*8 to Mas aleran/irhius and 2 to Mus vnrregirus. '](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24976775_0025.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
