Health organization in Australian ports / compiled for the Division of Marine Hygiene, under the authority of the Minister for Health.

  • Australia. Department of Health
Date:
[1928?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Health organization in Australian ports / compiled for the Division of Marine Hygiene, under the authority of the Minister for Health. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of the League of Nations. All information obtained is at once com- piled and made available to those concerned, and in particular to all officers concerned with the examination in Australia of vessels from oversea. INSPECTION OF SHIPS FROM OverRsEA Ports. (a) All ships arriving from overseas are kept under close super- vision from the moment they reach the Australian coast. The master of every oversea vessel equipped with wireless apparatus is required to send a wireless message not less than twelve hours before the expected time of arrival of the vessel at the first port of entry, informing the Quarantine Officer at that port of the state of health on board with details of cases of quarantinable or other disease. Ships arriving from overseas cannot enter any but a first port of entry, where they anchor on the mooring ground beyond the quarantine line and are subjected to an exhaustive medical and sanitary inspection by the quarantine staff. Should a vessel be found free from disease on arrival, she is per- mitted to proceed to further ports without restriction; but similar Inspection is made at each subsequent port until a period of eighteen days has elapsed since the vessel cleared from the last oversea port of eall, full pratique being withheld until this pericd of time has elapsed. Even after full pratique has been given, the master of the vessel is under obligation to report any case of communicable disease occurring on board and such cases are immediately investigated by a Quarantine Officer. In addition, the berthing regulations under the Quarantine Act are enforced at all ports in Australia, and fumigation is carried out either at the terminal port of the voyage or at any previous port if circumstances necessitate it. Thus every ship arriving in Austraha from oversea is kept under close supervision during its stay in all Austrahan ports. (b) Infected Ships—Should any quarantinable disease break out on board a vessel the vessel is directed to proceed to the nearest port at which there is a quarantine station, and is there quarantined. ‘The eases and contacts are removed to the quarantine station and quaran- tine maintained until freedom from any spread of infection has per- sisted for the requisite space of time. Necessary action is also taken to prevent any possible entry of infection by means of the cargo of the vessel or of the mails. Should an infected vessel have cargo and passengers for other Aus- tralian ports she may be permitted to proceed in quarantine to such ports as have quarantine stations and complete the period of quarantine at her final port of discharge. (c) Correlation with Shore Sanitation—The actual legislative powers of the Commonwealth Department of Health for preventive measures are considerable in relation to the quarantinable diseases —small-pox, plague, cholera, yellow fever or typhus fever—but, except on oceasions of shore epidemics of these diseases, in practice the opera- tions of the Department cease mainly at the ship’s side,
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