PLAGUE RATS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3165, 16 April 1909, Page 5

PLAGUE RATS.

By Telegraph—Press Association. AUCKLAND, April 15. According to Dr Purdy, District Health Officer for Auckland, we need take no alarm here in fear of a plague invasion from the other side. Auckland is infinitely better able to j cope with possibilities of that variety now than it was at the time of the last attack, while the rigid system of supervision over rodents makes it extremely unlikely that a plagueinfected rat would distribute the disease among many of his fellows before being discovered. Speaking on the subject of plague, and precautions against its dissemination, Dr Purdy remarked that for the last four years a systematic examination of rats has been made each week in Auckland. These rats are chiefly obtained from round the wharf and from the dust collectors, a small fee being paid for collecting. Altogether last year 337 rats were examined by the Health Department in Auckland, and not a single one "of them was infected. "As far as the Auckland Harbour is concerned, there is no doubt that the number of rats has very largely decreased since last plague scare in Auckland," said the doctor, who ascribed this diminution to the vigorous measures taken towards that end, and not a little incidentally to the introduction of a new "rat exterminate" by the Health Department. This preparation, he was of opinion, ' had been responsible for a great mortality among the rodents, places previously infested being now comparatively clear of them through its use. Another factor is the replacement of the wooden wharves with ferro-con-crete, and the improvement of the warehouses about the wharves.