§ SIR MICHAEL FOSTER (London University)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he can state the number of districts in England and Wales in which smallpox is now prevalent, and the number of cases; and whether in any district the number of eases has been so great as to lead to special measures on the part of the local authority,
(Answered by Mr. Walter Lang.) Since the beginning of the year 2,397 cases of smallpox have been reported to the Local Government. Board as having occurred in 212 urban and 59 rural districts. The outbreak is practically confined to Eng- 1010 land and Wales north of Birmingham, but it is chiefly in towns of Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the North Midlands that the disease is prevalent. Seventeen of the larger towns in those districts have had a considerable number of cases. I am glad to say that the sanitary authorities of the places concerned have been very active in taking measures with a view to stamping out the disease. Many of the places affected have been visited by a medical inspector of my Department, and in most of the other cases I have communicated with the sanitary authority on the subject. I shall continue to watch the course of events and to urge on the local authorities the adoption of any measures which may appear to the medical advisers of the Department to be desirable.