DEFENCE AGAINST SMALLPOX

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVII, Issue 14959, 23 April 1949, Page 6

DEFENCE AGAINST SMALLPOX

DOMINION PRECAUTIONS EFFECTIVE HEALTH DIRECTOR CONFIDENT ' (P.A.) Wellington, April 22. Confidence in the New Zealand policy of defence against smallpox was expressed in an interview by Dr F. S. McLean, director of the Division of Public Hygiene of the Health Department. Unless some unforseen condition caused a breakdown of the present routine precautions, no serious epidemic could develop, he said. Dr McLean did not advocate general vaccination. The recently-reported cases in the Mooltan had made the public aware of the dangerous nature of the disease, said Dr McLean, but the Department studied the position continually. In previous outbreaks its policy had proved adequate. "As regards steamship travel, we are fortunate in our isolation. The symptoms would be well advanced by the time a ship berthed, and for such an eventuality we are fully prepared," he said. "Thorough port inspections are another safeguard against the introduction of contagious disease. "As far as the people of this country are concerned, they rely on the rigid policy carried out by the Health Department," continued Dr McLean.