HEALTH OF BRITISH ARMY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13601, 5 February 1915, Page 4

HEALTH OF BRITISH ARMY.

WHY ENTERIC FEVER CASES ARE

NOTABLY FEW

According to a special -correspondent of the British Medical Journal (published the first >yeek m December), the extent to whiph the British troops luive suffered either frpm iypjioid .or paratyphoid fever : has so far been notably small, but it is not certain whether it will be possible make tl;o saji^e pbsoryation in^ft coujjle pf .mpiiths hence. The general sanitation of the Arjny is conducted on ;very,AOju.nd principles,, and'bya very active rainded \ai pf, anfin ; e^tremo care is taken to' secure that auy water served ot\t for drinking purpose^ shall be : free frp.m harmful gotrms ; f there is, no dust; there are up flics^and that for the ..most part all ranks appreciate the.valne Ql hygiene and are prepared to cpmply. V'ith its .rules so, far as circumstances render r this,.. possible. .. i It seems indubitable that some of the trenches at presewt occupied , by tho Germans and others . occupied by the Belgians and French are, infected, and military consideration might render, it at any time necessary Ito move, British troops into these same trenches. Evidence of the condjtion^ of tho trenches is afforded by the existing state of affairs both at Calais and at Dunkirk. At Calais thei'e is certainly need for ; activity, but the position is hardly as grave as might be supposed from what has appeared. in some of the newspapers. Down td the end 'of last week the total number of cases did not exceed 150, and the time during which these ntimb.ejv accumulated was not ten days, but ysry much longer. The -earliest cases we,re observed nearly four weeks . ago, tlje patients being men of one particular battery, which had been fighting near Nieuport, a

large proportion of the others beloivg. to Belgian regiments which for some time were unable to leave the trenches ; ib was impossible to provision them, and they consequent^ drank unboiled trench water.