SPINAL MENINGITIS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24733, 9 October 1941, Page 10

SPINAL MENINGITIS

THE WELLINGTON DISTRICT THREE NEW CASES REPORTED (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 8. Three more cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis have occurred in the Wellington health district. Two are adult males and the other is a boy of four years. All. are in hospital. Following the discovery of a case of meningitis in the Palmerston North district, the health authorities got into touch with a woman contact, who has been isolated for the remainder of the quarantine period. The cases had arisen sporadically, and there was no apparent connection between any of them, said Dr Hubert Smith, Medical Officer of Health in Wellington, discussing the latest notifications, which, he said, brought the total since January to 19. One of the men at present in hospital was a milk worker on a dairy farm supplying raw milk to a portion of Wellington. As soon as the Health Department learnt of his illness steps were taken to quarantine all the other workers who had been in contact with him and other men were found to carry on the milk round till the danger of contacts transmitting infection through milk supply had been removed.

With raw milk, Dr Smith said, there was a possibility of the transmission of germs, though no cases were known to have occurred. With pasteurised milk, however, that danger would be removed.