HC Deb 26 March 1942 vol 378 cc2133-4
23. Sir P. Hurd

asked the Minister of Health what special measures are being taken to safeguard this country against a plague of typhus, in view of conditions in Central Europe and of recent evidence of the widespread presence in our centres of population of the lice through which the disease is most readily propagated?

Mr. E. Brown

As stated in my Reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Central Bradford (Mr. Leach) on 19th February, the measures taken to safeguard this country against typhus include a close watch by medical officers at ports and airports; the organisation and training of special mobile diagnostic and sanitary teams; arrangements for confirmatory diagnosis by experts; plans by local authorities for prompt isolation, hospital treatment and supervision of contacts; and a general intensification of delousing and cleansing of verminous conditions, for which local authorities have been given additional powers.

Sir P. Hurd

Do these port examinations include examination of the Irish labourers who come here in a verminous and diseased condition?

Mr. Brown

My hon. Friend knows that that question has been answered several times.

Sir P. Hurd

What has been done?