PREPARATIONS AT QUAIL ISLAND.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 10637, 23 April 1900, Page 5

PREPARATIONS AT QUAIL ISLAND.

The Minister of Public Works has put in hand the work of repairs, renovations, watersupply, drainage, and so forth in connection with the quarantine station on Quail Island. The work will be carried'out without delay.

DX. BATCHELOR'S VIEWS ON THE QUARANTINE REGULATIONS.

Dr. Batohelor, of Duneddn, was among the passengers quarantined) on the Waikare. Subsequent to Ais release he expressed himself to one of the "Otago Daity Times" staff as antagonistic to the regulations now imposed on steamers arriving from infected ports. T-hepresent method, he considers, is clumsy, obsolete, and inefficient, and taust have a disastrous effect on commerce, and consequently is very expensive, and is a great and unnecessary inconvenience to th& travelling public. The present ten days' Kmifc from the infected port must afford some thinks, but it is altogether disproportionate to the loss and inCGiYvenstence caused, and just as efficient means are available wiich would cause less disturbance to trade and l«ss public inconvenience. '"The sole advantage," proceeded. Dr. Batchelor, "of the present quarantine regulations is that they thr6w no work or responsibility on the powers that be; but df other and mot* efficient measures are available they should! be carried out, even though it entails more care and supervision. The incubation period of plague is somewhat uncertain, but the anthoritdes give an average of five days. In cases -where the incubation reported is longer it is always open to doubt that the infection vc&j have occurred after the patient has. left the infected aTea. It is quite certain that in all cases of plague recognisable symptoms of ill-health must appear for some time prior to the excretion of {plague germs from the body, and if all persons exposed to infection were for a definite period to be subjected to a careful daily medical inspection such symptoms of ill-health could , not possibly be overlooked, and measures could at once be taken to prevent a focus for the distribution of the disease."

Reporter: "What is the plan you consider should be adopted, Dr. Batchelor, in regard to vessels coming here from infected portsf' Dr. Batchelor: "A more efficient and convenient and inexpensive plan than the present is this: On arrival from the infected pott all passengers should be at oQca transferred to a quarantine station. All the important seaports of our colony have some suitable buildings that are used for the purpose. These should be fitted up to be made fairly comfortable during the short stay of the passengers, and bath rooms ap.d disinfecting apparatus should be provided. Each person, before obtaining a permit to land, should pass at least one •night on the quarantine station. On retiring for the night all the clothing and cabin luggage should be carefully exposed and disinfected, and on the following morning each passenger should take a bath containing some disinfecting fluid—Jeyes', Lysol, or the like—and should dress afterwards in the disinfected clothes, and before leaving the station should sign a bond and receive a passport to appear daily for some definite period before a duly appointed medical practitioner, who should inspect daily, taking pulse and temperature, entering the result of the examination on a schedule provided for the purpose. In the ea*a of any passenger failing to appear for such daily examination, he should be subjected to a heavy fine, and be forthwith removed to the quarantine station until the full period of suspicion is passed. In the case of any suspicious symptoms arising during the period i>i observation the medical inspector should treat the case as a 'suspect,' unless he can fully satisfy himself as to the cause of ill-health. Suitable accommodation and precaution for such a case could hi readily secured. Then, none of the officers or crew should be permitted to land or Vo

hold direct communication with the shore until they had each undergone a similar course of" treatment as the passengers on the quarantine station. All dirty or soiled linen from the ship, passengers, or crow, should be collected on the quarantine station, soaked in disinfecting fluid for some time, and then boiled before being >c:.*> to the laundry. The vessel itself should be thoroughly.*-4umigated before admission to pratique, I am inclined to think that rtiy iormali|u vapour would be most efficient for that purpose, and if properly used would probably destroy rodents and vermin!." Reporter: '"Would you more fully state your objections to the present quarantine recitations?"

Dr. Batchelor: "The defects in tiie present system of quarantine are very marked. There is, first of all, the unnecessary delay before the passengers and the vessel are admitted to pratique. Further, the quarantine is quite inefficient. Passengers are permitted to hind without any adequate disinfection to themselves and their apjarel, and although this is probably only an infinitesimal source of danger, it should not "be altogether ignored. The present methods adopted on board are purely- a farce. The officers undoubtedly do their best, but it is absolutely impossible that it can be carried out on a ship crowded with passengers. Further—and tfiis is very important—it is quite conceivable under present conditions for a passenger to carry contagion in his apparel, or even to become infected on board the vessel immediately before landing, in which case symptoms would develop some days after landing, and then they might bo altogether overlooked until the disease germ had been excreted from the body and become a focus of infection."

Reporter: "Do you agree, Dr. Batchelor with the view that rats are largely accountable for the spread of the disease?" Dr. Batehelor: "Oh, yes; I have no doubt that the real source <A danger at present is from rats and cargo. I gather that some process of fumigation is to be adopted; but to be effectual and thorough it should be carried out by Government officials under capable supervision. lam inclined to think, as I said before, that dry formalin vapour properly into the'hold and throughout the vessel would , be more efficient than the disinfectants at present in vogue, and further, it would probably destroy all rats and vermin. No doubt other subsidiary measures for this purpose might be carried out."

In further conversation, Dr. Baiehelor said the question of expense involved in the process he suggested was a small one, and compared with the present costly and inconvenient method would be small. The extra charge made on the passengers by the Union Steam Ship Company would cover the cost of the expense on the station, and some extra charge might be made to individual passengers. In support of his contentions, Dr. Batchelor quoted from a book entitled "The Plague Inspector," by Dr. W. G. King, C.1.E., M.8., CM., Sanitary Commissioner for Madras, the following sentence: "England under the advice of successive Boards of Health has set its face against quarantine, and after much international discussion the wisdom of resorting to a system of observation "has been established." He also stated thaifc in the Madras Presidency the Government decided upon and put into operation a system of "observation" or "surveillance" both by land and sea. Reporter: "Do you consider that this system of registration, could be carried out?" Dr. Batchelor: "Well, considering that it is carried out among an ignorant lot of Hindus in India, and ajso in the crowded towns in England, surely in a town like this, where you can trace everybody, there should be not the slightest difficulty about it." Reporter: "What is the direct extra expense to passengers now. on account of the raising of the fares by the Union Company V Dr. Batchelor: "The fares have been raised 33- per cent., and, in addition, each saloon passenger on the Waikare had to pay £116s lor quarantine detention. That is t3ie direct cost only. Indirectly the loss to the shipDing company; and to the colony most Dβ enormous." TMs terminated the conversation.