[Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Leeds City.

  • Leeds City Council
Date:
1960
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Leeds City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    72/308 (page 54)
    Re-infestation of Corporation houses sprayed during the year to receive verminous tenants does not occur within that period, but 50 Corporation houses not so sprayed during the previous twelve months became infested or re-infested by bed bug, mainly because of the introduction into the house of some second-hand article of furniture or bedding which had been purchased in a verminous condition privately or from some second-hand dealer. The problem of bed-bug infestation and disinfestation in rehousing is practically non-existent; as already stated, such infes¬ tations are light and therefore easily eradicated. Instead, woodworm infestations are considered to be of equal importance. Such infesta¬ tions are not a matter of public health but they are tremendously important as far as the economics of housing management are con¬ cerned. An infestation introduced can soon become widespread with little evidence of its presence in its early stages, and control or eradication is difficult. It is, therefore, now the practice when investigating houses prior to the transfer of the tenant to the Cor¬ poration house, to pay attention to the possible presence of wood¬ worm in the structure or, more important, in the furniture of the slum house. Where woodworm is found in the furniture of such tenants, a hydrogen cyanide fumigation process is insisted upon and carried out at the time of removal of the tenant to the Corporation house. Because of this problem of woodworm disinfestation, the hydrogen cyanide plant, originally created for bed-bug eradication, is retained though reduced to half of its former capacity. Should a woodworm infestation be found on inspection of the slum house and its contents, the latter are removed by means of a container gas van to the Disinfestation Centre. At the Centre the furniture is subjected to hydrogen cyanide fumigation and then delivered to the Corporation house some two days later. Subsequent inspections have proved that the woodworm has been eradicated and the danger of an extension to the structural timber of the Corporation house removed. During the year 198 articles of furniture were fumigated by hydrogen cyanide and 8 removals were carried out in this con¬ nection.