A treatise on Asiatic cholera / edited and prepared by Edmund Charles Wendt, in association with Drs. John C. Peters, Ely McClellan, John B. Hamilton, and Geo. M. Sternberg.
- Edmund Charles Wendt
- Date:
- 1885
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A treatise on Asiatic cholera / edited and prepared by Edmund Charles Wendt, in association with Drs. John C. Peters, Ely McClellan, John B. Hamilton, and Geo. M. Sternberg. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Gerstein Science Information Centre at the University of Toronto, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Gerstein Science Information Centre, University of Toronto.
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![2. Any circumstances affecting the public health existing in the port of depart- ure to be here stated I certify tliat the foregoing statements are made by , who ka^s personally inspected said vessel; that I am satisfied that the said statements are correct, and I do further certify that the said vessel leaves this port bound for in In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and tlie seal of office, at the port of this day of , 188 , .. .. o'clock. [seal.] [Signature.] But it is found in practice that tlie bills of healtli are in some cases untrustworthy and are not to be depended upon at our ports, and the quarantine officer must rather act upon information otherwise received by him concerning the sanitary state of the port of departure. Thus while this is being written yellow fever is prevalent in epidemic form on the isthmus of Panama, and yet no bill of health from Panama or Aspinwall gives a statement of the existence of such an epidemic. This does not imply that the consul is neglectful, but he is obliged to accept the statement of the duly constituted liealth authorities of the country, and a refusal so to do would result in the withdrawal of his exequatur. In such cases he can only notify his government. At the Sanitary Conference of Wash- ington, no representative was willing to agree that the ' certifying author- ity of the port of departure should be other than the local authority, and as in the case of Panama, and perhaps instances nearer home, the fear of being placed at a commercial disadvantage has operated as a powerful motive for concealment of contagious disease. The Conference of Washington went much further in the matter of perfecting a jDlan for International notification than any of the preceding conferences. Resolutions III. and IV. adopted by the Conference are as follow: III. In the interest of tlie public health, the sanitary authorities of the countries representetl in tliis conference are autliorized to communicate directly with each other in order to keep themselves informed of all important facts which may come to their knowledge; but nothing herein contained shall relieve them from tlie duty of furnishing at the same time to consuls in their respective jurisdic- tions the information they are required to give them. IV. A centralized international system of sanitary notification being- deemed indispensable to the successful carrying out of measures for preventing the intro- duction of disease, it is advisable to create international organizations to be charged with the duty of collecting information in regard to the outbreak, spread and disappearance of cholera, pest, yellow fevers, etc., and of conveying such in- formation to the parties interested. The representatives of the Ignited States, at the conference, voted against the latter of these resolutions, but it was adopted by a vote of 13 to 3. The plan by which it was proposed to carry out resolution IV. of the conference is as follows: Annex I. Tlie draft of a convention mentioned in Resolution IV. is as follows: Article I. There shall be established in Vienna and Havana a permanent Inter- national Sanitary Agency of Notification. The respective governments sliall agree among theiiiselves as to the formation of those agencies. Art. II. It will be the duty of the agency at Vienna to gather sanitary infor- mation from Europe, Asia and Africa. Tlie agency at Havana will extend its sphere of action to the American Continent and the islands belonging geograph- ically thereto. This system to be subject to such modifications as may be ren- dered necessary by the state of telegraphic communication. Art. III. The contractmg governments shall have the right to establish, if necessary, a third agency in Asia.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20996421_0369.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
