Harbin, April 30.
Now that the epidemic at Harbin is nearly at an end, it may be interesting to give a brief outline of the investigations, both clinical and bacteriological, which our staff has made during' the last few months. Part of the work was carried out under difficult. conditions with the temperature at 25° to 30° Centigrade, especially at Hailar. At Harbin, however, we had proper laboratories and trained assistants to assist us in our research work, besides warmly heated wards for the patients to stay in. As this bulletin is meant for the general public, our information; may be best stated in the form of questions and answers. Thus:
Irs Origin any Spreap.
How did the pneumonic plague originate It. may be remembered that early in September, 1920, some cases of bubonic plague were reported at Abagatui and other'Siberian towns close to the Manchurian border. One patient reached Manchuli Hospital and was cured. In October a few cases more were reported from Hailar. I reached that city on the last day of October and saw the gradual merging of the bubonic into the septicemic and later into the pneumonic form. s it was difficult to catch fleas in dark, dirty rooms through dull paper-covers windows we utilized guinea pigs, allowing them to roam about the rooms and hoping for the fleas to attack them and thus get caught. But in this we were unsuccessful. Fly papers were also used with no avail. Once the plague became pneumonic, its spread was rapid as, being a direct infection from man to man, it followed the lines of human travel. Even the cancellation of passenger traffic on the railways only limited the number of infections, not the extent.
Risks oF INrecrion.
Where does the real danger of the plague lie?
This danger lies, in my opinion, in the neighbourhood of a patient in whom cough and the accompanying bacilli are already present. Infection is carried in droplet form, that is, when the moist sputum is thrown out when talking or spitting. Experiments performed in Mukden ten years ago and repeated this time at Harbin show that under ordinary cireumstances these droplets seldom travel more than three feet. In crowded inns, with closed windows and no ventilation, infection naturally spreads rapidly, particularly at night time when the coolies are huddled together. If a way can be found to allow persons to sleep as well as work out in the open air,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.