THE BUBONIC PLAGUE.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 November 1921, Page 11

THE BUBONIC PLAGUE.

A DIRT DISEASE. CALL FOR IMPROVED SANITATION. (By J.D.L. in Auckland Star.) The outbreak of the plague in Australia brings another danger nearer to us in view of our frequent communication with the Australian ports. It is true, so -far the mortality from this cause has not been great on the other side of the Tasman Sea, but the bubonic plague is one which makes a slow start, but gathers impetus from its own force, like a snowball running down a mountain side. This statement is not made witli intention of creating apprehension; on the contrary, the following remarks of one who has been an eye-witness of this dreaded disease in more than one country, will probably tend to allay any undue fears. In the first place, it may be said that the bubonic plague is one of those pestilences which were far more virulent in ancient times than they are to-day. This remark is true of smallpox, cholera and scurvy, while it is only quite recently that effective measures have been found to deal with yellow fever and malaria, once the scourge of tropical regions, but now scarcely looked on as dangerous if ordinary precautions are taken. The terrible ravages of the “black death” (which has been identified with the bubonic plague) in former times were due partly to ignorance as to how’ it was caused, and partly owing to the contempt in which the most elementary laws of sanitation were then held. We now’ know, what was not known then, that one of the principal carriers of the plague germs is the common rat, and that the rat abounds most where sanitary conditions are most neglected. And here it may be remarked parenthetically that the garbage dumps of our New Zealand cities form natural breeding places for rats, flies and mosquitoes—all notable carriers of disease germs- Here they find free board and lodging, and here they propagate their kind. If a practicable method can be found of effectually and promptly dealing with all household refuse, much will be done to prevent the spread of many diseases. * ” k '

The disregard for sanitation not many decades ago was something appalling. Even in ’cities like Edinburgh, which prides itself on its mature, drains were conspicuous by their absence. Piles of garbage were found everywhere. Dirty water was thrown into the street, and the cry of ‘Kiuardyloo” was a warning to passers-by in the street to look if they did not want to be drenched by a bucketful of slops from an overhanging windotv.

Similar conditions prevailed throughout the British Islands. Is it to be wondered at that the plague in olden days was a frequent and a terrible visitant; that the black death in one single visitation is calculated to have carried off from one-half to one-third of 'the population of England? The dearth of laborers after the plague was so great that the rate of wages was nearly doubled, a fact which seems to prove that the mortality was greatest among the laboring classes, and probably due to the insanitary conditions under which they then lived. The same fact still holds good In the case of the bubonic plague; the mortality has always been found to be greatest among the lower classes, especially when they live under insanitary conditions. When the writer lived in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay (South America) there was a virulent outbreak confined to a suburb of hovels inhabited by the lower classes under most insanitary conditions, with a total absence of drainage. It was noticed also during an outbreak of the plague in Sydney some years ago that the mortality was notably greatest in the poorest Quarters, where many families lived huddled together. It was even observed that families living in the lower storeys of a tenement suffered more from the plague than those inhabiting the upper storeys, the reason apparently being the greater freedom from rats enjoyed by the upper storeys. In India where the plague has committed fearful ravages, the whites, who lived under good sanitary conditions, almost escaped altoether from its ravages, which were greatest in poor and crowded quarters. The great first cause in treating th* plague may therefore be said to be sanitation. Want of sanitation breeds rats, and rats breed the plague. When we know the cause it, is easy to apply the remedy. The deaths from buboic plague to-day are a mere trifle to what they were in former times. The natural home of the pestilence is said to be Asia, especially India, and it is noticeable that it first manifested itself in Australia in the Queensland ports, the first ones in Australia to be called at by the steamers which arrive from India. Quarantine regulations are very good in their way, but they have not been found effectual in altogether preventing the spread of the plague; such, at least, was the writer’s experience in South America. On the other hand, strict attention to sanitary methods was at once followed with good results. Inoculation has been attempted, but only seems to be partially successful. Thorough sanitation can effectua.ly cope with the bubonic plague, as it has with vellow fever. The writer was m Rio de Janeiro thirty years ago when that city was a hotbed of yellow fever. Then it* was discovered that the fever germs were carried by the mosquito. A campaign was started against the insect. All their breeding-places are sought out and destroyed. The drains, where they bred in countless millions, were thoroughly fumigated, with the result, it was said, that dead mosquitoes were taken out by the. bucketful. And the campaign has been carried on ever since, with the consequence that .Dio, once a nest of the yellow fever, is to-day a health resort,'and claims to have.as low a death rate as any other city of the same size in the world. The same results that have been obtained by sanitation in other countries can be obtained in New Zealand. It is only in those countries where sanitary regulations are neglected that the bubonic plague secures any firin hold. 3he deaths from the plague were never very numerous in Australia, nor is it likely that they will be in New Zealand. Our sanitary' arrangements are not oi the worst, but they can be further improved and the plague successfully combated.