166 PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE. The instructions contained in department circular letter No. 37, of June 10, 1912, in regard to rat guards were strictly enforced during the year. The daily inspection of vessels for the proper observance of the rat-guard requirements was continued and very little difficulty was encountered in enforcing the regulations. Nearly every vessel calling at Honolulu during the year was equipped with standard 36-inch rat guards and only very exceptionally is the small European 12-inch guard to be seen. Honolulu is the only port in the Hawaiian Islands where vessels from foreign ports discharge their cargoes directly onto the wharves. At the port of Hilo there is a wharf capable of berthing vessels drawing 30 feet of water, but it has been used but little during the year. At all the other ports vessels lie in the stream and discharge their cargoes directly into lighters. VESSELS ARRIVING WITH CONTAGIOUS BUT NONQUARANTINABLE DISEASES ON BOARD. Beriberi. During the year 81 cases of beriberi were discovered on arriving vessels, in some instances there being quite a number of cases on each vessel, as, for instance, the Japanese steamship Kiyo Maru during the voyage from Japan had 30 cases occur amongst the Chinese steerage passengers. The steamship Anyo Maru arrived from the west coast of South America with 22 of the crew and 1 passenger ill with the disease, while there were 8 cases on the Japanese battleship Idzumo. With the exception of the American steamship Manchuria and Korea, all the cases occurred on Japanese steamers. Measles.-Four vessels arrived with this disease on board, there being two cases on the Shinyo Maru, one on the Manoa, and one on the transport Sherman. There were two cases of varicella and one of cerebrospinal meningitis landed at this port during the year. All of the cases were reported to the board of health for their action before granting pratique to the vessel affected. CHOLERA CARRIERS. The examination of all steerage passengers from Manila, consisting almost entirely of Filipino laborers and their families being brought into the Territory under contract to work on the sugar plantations, for cholera carriers was continued from the beginning of the fiscal year until November, 1914, when the certificates of the Manila Bureau of Science were accepted and the examination upon arrival at Honolulu discontinued. Filipinos to the number of 208 were examined from July, 1914, to November 25 of the same year, and no carriers were found. PLAGUE IN HAWAII. During the year plague continued to prevail only on the island of Hawaii, where it has been present for the past 15 years, the infection remaining, as in previous years, localized in the Hamakua district. Two cases of human plague occurred at Paauhau Landing, the first being in the person of a Portuguese in charge of the landing, which occurred August 16, 1914, and the second in the person of a Filipino working at the landing on June 29, 1915. Only one plague infected rat was found throughout the year, this rat being found dead at the Kalopa stables of the Paauhau Sugar Co. on August 29, 1914. The Territorial board of health and the plantations have worked with the object of building the rat out of existence. All stables, stores, and warehouses have been rendered rat proof, while double walls and houses with floors resting on the ground have been banished from the Hamakua district. The following table shows the rat yield and cases of human and rat plague in the Hamakua district for the year: AID RENDERED OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICES. Board of health.-Five cremations were done during the year at the quarantine station for the board of health, all of which were persons dying of leprosy. Many inoculation and cultural experiments were made in the laboratory for the board of health in suspected cases of plague, cholera, typhoid, and pneumonia, while a large amount of media was prepared and swabs sterilized for the use of the bacteriologist of the Territorial board of health. Queen's Hospital.-Several Widal examinations were made in the laboratory upon request of authorities of Queen's Hospital. United States Coast Guard.-Ten seamen were treated at the outpatient office and 44 in the hospital during the year. Two commissioned officers of the United States Coast Guard were physically examined for promotion. RAT CAMPAIGN-HONOLULU. Twenty-two thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven rats and mongoose were taken in the district of Honolulu during the year, 22,521 being trapped, 254 being killed by sulphur dioxide, and 22 being found dead or being brought in by outsiders. There was a reduction in the number of rats trapped of 732 over that of the preceding year, which was due to the dropping of one of the trappers in order to keep the sum allotted for this work. With regard to the classification of the rodents caught, Mus Alexandrinus continued to furnish the largest number, there being 10,592 of this variety, followed in numerical order by 7,657 Mus musculus, 2,947 Mus norvegicus, and finally 1,158 Mus rattus. In view of Honolulu's close commercial relations with the Orient, mainland ports of the west coast of the United States, and, through the opening of the Panama Canal, with the Gulf and east coast ports and, to a less extent, with the west coast of South America, the importance of the rat campaign in Honolulu becomes most marked. None of the wharves where cargo is discharged or taken on are ratproof, and there is not a rat-free warehouse in the city. Therefore by the regular trapping and examination of rodents in the city and along the wharves, plague, if it occurs, will be promptly detected and the work of control rendered much easier. Quarantine transactions at Honolulu, Hawaii. Vessels inspected and passed Vessels boarded and passed- Vessels inspected and detained for fumigation for mosquitoes__ 450 49 12 18 1 Vessels inspected and detained and allowed to transact business in quarantine_. 7 Vessels fumigated for rat quarantine_ 79 Vessels fumigated by request_ 1 Vessels arriving with quarantinable disease, or having had same on board during the voyage Number of rats and mice killed on vessels by fumigation____ Number of persons detained and examined for cholera carriers. Number of inspections of vessels for observance of rat-guard precautions_ Number of vessels on which cargo was inspected for rat signs_ Number of hides disinfected_. Number of autopsies Number of cremations_ Number of mongoose and rats trapped and destroyed_. 3 504 18 325 208 None. 808 144 27, 312 8, 286 5 5 22, 797 Total number of rat trappers_. Decrease in number of rats, mice, and mongoose caught as compared with last year Number of traps set daily. FOREIGN QUARANTINE. 139 48 1 66 8 732 1, 085 The duties of officers of the Public Health Service detailed at foreign ports are as follows: 1. The determination of the sanitary history of all vessels destined for ports in the United States, its possessions and dependencies. 2. The inspection of vessels, crews, and passengers, and the certification of freight, with special reference to the opportunities afforded at foreign ports of infestation of either vessels or freight by rodents. 3. The fumigation of ships for the destruction of rats and mosquitoes, or the disinfection of ships when necessary in the event of actual infection. 4. The observation, when necessary under detention, of intending passengers for ports in the United States and its dependencies. 5. The rendition of reports by means of cable or telegraph, when necessary, as to the health and sanitary conditions of the foreign port and, when possible, of the country contiguous thereto. 6. The certification, in conjunction with the United States consular officer of the bills of health issued, said certificates to be made just prior to the departure of the ship and to cover the requirements provided for by the United States quarantine regulations. Table giving foreign, oriental, and insular stations and transactions for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915. Acting Asst. Surg. J. L. Castro-Gutierrez reports as follows: During the fiscal year 177 vessels were certified, of which 156 were fumigated and 21 simply inspected and passed. These vessels carried 12,328 crew and 5,740 cabin and 3,294 steerage passengers. It was necessary to vaccinate 2,210 persons coming from localities infected with smallpox. During the year 2,181 pieces of baggage were disinfected and 132 pieces inspected and passed. Certificates were granted to 29 shipments of skins which had been previously disinfected. Of the various consignments of hides shipped during the year 9,824 were certified as disinfected. Three sick passengers were refused embarkation on account of the following diseases: Smallpox, 1; leprosy, 1; plague (suspected), 1. The sanitary condition of Lima and Callao is reported much improved over the last fiscal year. There were only 16 cases of plague at Callao during the past year. It is the current opinion that the decrease in the disease was owing to private effort to better the sanitary conditions in general. The number of cases of smallpox increased during the year, the cause being, in the opinion of some, the dry condition of the vaccine supply. Cases of plague are reported constantly to occur at Molendo. |