Dr. Morganasked the Minister of Fuel and Power (1) whether the medical officers recently appointed by his Department have been instructed to make careful observations as to the presence of cases of sporotrichosis amongst mine workers in Britain, especially those working underground, without special reference to any disabling effect or absenteeism traceable to such infection;
(2) whether any cases of sporotrichosis, such as has now been diagnosed in South African mines, have been brought to the notice of his Department in Great Britain; whether any investigation of its incidence or research into its causation has been set in motion; whether any statistical or other information is available in his Department as to its prevalence in France and other European countries and also in the United States of America; and what steps have been planned for its prevention?
Major Lloyd GeorgeNo cases of sporotrichosis have been brought to the notice of my Department and although it appears from the literature that isolated cases occur in Europe and America as well as in this country, I have no statistical information on the subject. My mines medical officers will be asked to pay special attention to the problem of its origin, cure and prevention in the event of any cases of the disease being reported among miners.