SIR WALTER FOSTER (Derbyshire, Ilkeston)To ask the Secretary of State for India, in view of the fact that plague has recurred with increasing virulence in India annually since 1896, so that during parts of March and April last the deaths from this cause averaged between 4,000 and 5,000 daily, what steps the Government intends to take to check the ravages of the disease in India, and the increasing risk of its dissemination to other countries.
(Answered by Secretary Lord George Hamilton.) The Government of India and the several local governments are using every means in their power, due regard being had to the customs and prejudices of the people, to check the spread of the epidemic and to bring medical aid to the sufferers. Efforts have been and are being successfully made to induce the people to submit to inoculation, and a large staff of doctors has been sent out to India for this purpose. The people also are being encouraged to give early information of outbreaks, to evacuate infected dwellings, to isolate the sick, and to submit to disinfection, in accordance with the recommendations of the Plague Commission. To prevent the dissemination of plague to foreign countries stringent precautions are taken at the ports, and the provisions of the Venice Convention are strictly observed. The latest returns show a satisfactory decrease in mortality.