§ MR. JOHN CAMPBELLI beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board if he can give any information as to the reported case of plague at Southampton, and what measures are being taken to prevent the spread of the disease.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. WALTER. LONG, Bristol, S.)The case referred to is that of a Lascar who was one of the crew of the "Simla," and came under the observation of the ship's surgeon when the vessel was two days out from Cape Town. Though regarded with some suspicion the case was deemed not to be one of plague, and on arrival at Southampton the man was sent to hospital for the local abscess to be opened. This having been done, and matter from the abscess having been bacterioscopically examined, the case was ascertained to have been one of chronic plague. The man is now convalescent. An Inspector of the Local Government Board has visited Southampton, and he reports that all necessary precautions have been taken by way of disinfection and for keeping under observation the various 994 persons with whom the man had been associated during the voyage and afterwards.