THE BLACK DEATH.

Western Star, 31 January 1922, Page 4

THE BLACK DEATH.

HISTORY OF PLAGUE

ITS STREAD THROUGHOUT THE

WORLD

In view of the measures now being taken throughout New Zealand to prevent the possibility of plague spreading to this country from Australia, considerable interest attaches to n review of the history of bubonicplague, which was supplied to members of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Sanitary : Inspectors' Association on Friday night by Dr W. 1?. Findlay (District Health •Officer). After declaring that plague was one of the most interesting; subjects that could be discussed, iDr Findlay, observed that the discas was what? was known in the MicXe Ages as tho Black Death. Really a septicaemia, the real organism of plague was not identified until 1894, when it. was recognised in Hongkong by a Japanese named Kitasto. Concurrent investigations *y Yersin proved K'itasto's discovery to be correct. There were three types of' plague—bubonic, which was characterised by glandular swelling in various parts of the body; .pneumonic, with no glandular swellings at all; and septicajmic, ■ which was characterised by general septicemia. The pneumonic type was very fatal. From the very first known occurrence of plague it was noted that it was associated with a- very high mortality amongst rats. First Mentioned in Bible. —

Probably the first mention of plaguo was in the Bible, when an epidemic disease was recorded! as having occupied among the Philistines, accom, panied by buboes, glandular swellings in man, and, a* the Bible puts, it, a disease among the: mice of the field. Sennacherib's army was attacked) by an epidemic which was also accompanied by high mortality. At Peluliium, an , Egyptian .market, in 524 A.D., there occurred, the first known starting point of a serious .pandemic. From Pebisium the disease spread to Bvzantum, Asia, Western Europe, and Ireland,' audi it lasted' in epidemic form for some 200 years. The next outbreak occurred' somewhere about the eleventh century, again causing a pandemic,' which continued until it reached its maximum! in the fourteenth century. About the seventeenth century the disease suddenly declined, and left Western Europe, and in about 1844 it vanished from Eastern Europe,, but remained in a small area in Arabia. To some extent the pandemic mentioned was probably first responsible for the. initiation of -preventive measures. In 1374 a Count Bernado brought into force certain quarantine lawn, and in 1403 the • Venetians established tho first place of isolation for infected cases, besides commencing the disinfection of clothing merchandise, etc. Inspection of ships and the use of the yellow quarantine flag] was first instituted by the Venetians. The first records of the plague inIndia were to be found in a Hindu book sotow-800 years old, which described the disease, as being associated with a. heavy mortality among rats, *and which advised the vacation of houses in which cases of plague had occurred, and in which dead 1 , rats were found. Continuing] from the twelfth century, epidemics in India disappeared in 1812, but the disease reappeared in India from China about 1896. In all probability the cause of the disease had lain hidden^ in the hills of India, for plague broke out .amongst rats in cold weather in. the Himalayas and in mountainous areas of Asia*. From Bombay, in 1896, the. disease gradually spread over the whole of India, and from India it hac'. spread at intervals to practically all parts nf the world. In 1896. the disease wan found' in tin* Malay States, Australia, San Francisco, New York, Lisbon, Rio, Beunos Aires;, and Alexandria, while in .1900 eases were reported in Capetown r.'i ! in Glasgow. Deaths in India a'. :ie in 1901 numbered 1,000,000, and from 185)6 t ( , 1914 plague caused the deaths of 8,000,000, a's. -many as 40,000 to 50,000 of the native population dying -very week. First occurring in 1899, plague continued in Australia until 1912. The present outbreak was: the j first sfner the latter year. ginec 1899 plague had been responsible- for ( 41G deaths in Australia. There had i been isolated cases of plague in New Zealand* since 1901, but no cases had , been reported since 1912. —Effect' of Climate.— ,

Climate, continued Dr Findlay, had little effect tin the .distribution, of

plague, and there were epidemic areais in the Kur'destan Hills ' and

Mesopotamia, as well as in certain parts'of China aud Africa. From the history of epidemics it would' appear that plague was at its worst in India during the rainy season. The disease did not spread to the 6ame extent into the hot season in the tropics and the winter season in the temperate zones, but. that- did not mean that plague would .not occur at any season of the year.

l)r Findlay quoted experiments which proved conclusively that plague was transmitted to man by fleas from infected' rats, and then dealt with the measures taken to' keep down the spread of rate, incidentally remarking, that periodically rats were baeteriologicaily examined in New Zealand and throughout the world. It was usually found that the disease was present among rats before any cases occurred amongst human beings. Three poisons which were extensively used for killing rate were barium carbonate, phosphorus, and arsenic. One pound of barium carbonate and 31b of/ flour would be sufficient to make 2300 baits. < In an epidemic of bubonic plague, continued Dr Findlay, only 2 per cent, of the cases were pneumonic. Pnetumonic plague was, of course, more dangerous, to human beings than the bubonic form, because of the risk of infection by coughing. Attendants on sufferers from pneumonic plague sometimes wore masks to guard against infection.