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REPORT ON AN OUTBREAK OF TYPHOID FEVER IN KAIKOURA, 1947 (By J. H. Blakelock, M.Sc., M.8., Ch.B., D.P.H., Medical Officer of Health, Christcliurcli) PART I.—KAIKOURA TOWNSHIP Topography Kaikoura is a small rural coastal town on the main road between Canterbury and Marlborough. It is some 120 miles north of Christchurch and 80 miles south of Blenheim. It can be roughly divided into two sections : one lying along the narrow coastal plain to the north of the Kaikoura Peninsula, the other occupying the seaward slopes of the north-going spur. The soil in the first area is sand and shingle, in the latter' a tenacious clay. The general aspect is to the north and east and the climate an equable one. Population Since Kaikoura is part of the administrative county of that name it has no defined boundaries and no definite figure can be assigned to its population. Based on the results of a survey made during the outbreak, the population of the area commonly accepted as lying within the town limits is in the neighbourhood of 1,200. The age and sex distribution of the population based on a survey of 256 families with a total of 1,066 persons is as follows

Occupations Kaikoura caters for a considerable tourist traffic and, in addition, serves as a market town for the surrounding rural area. The wage-earning population includes staff of the Railway, Post and Telegraph, and Public Works Departments, hotel and restaurant workers, shopkeepers, tradesmen, and fishermen. There are 110 local industries other than a butter-factory lying some two miles from the township. Transport There is a daily bus both ways between Nelson, Blenheim, and Christchurch, and a passenger-train both ways between Christchurch, Blenheim, and Picton three days weekly. Both road and rail services make stops for lunch at Kaikoura. There is a refreshment-room on the station catering for train passengers ; those going by road patronize one or other of the local hotels or tea-rooms. The bearing of this practice on cases arising outside the district will be referred to later.

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Persons Per 1,000 of Population. Age Groups. Males. Females. Both Sexes. 0-2 36 35 ! 71 -5 36 39 75 -10 .. 64 64 128 -15 .. 60 36 96 -20 .. 25 42 67 -30 .. 56 66 122 -40 .. 81 92 173 -50 74 50 124 5080 64 144 All ages 512 488 1,000