been contaminated during the passage by rats known to be stricken with plague, and if it can not be disinfected, the destruction of the germs may be insured by storing it in a warehouse for a maximum period of two weeks.
It is understood that the application of this last measure shall not entail any delay upon the vessel or any extra expense as a result of the lack of warehouses in the ports.
Art. 18. When merchandise has been disinfected by applying the provisions of Article 12, or temporarily warehoused in accordance with the third paragraph of Article 17, the owner or his representative shall be entitled to demand from the health authority who has ordered the disinfection or storage, a certificate setting forth the measures taken.
Art. 19. Baggage.—The disinfection of the soiled linen, wearing apparel, and articles of baggage or furniture (household goods) coming from a territorial area declared to be contaminated shall only take place in cases when the health authority considers them to be contaminated.
SECTION III. MEASURES IN PORTS AND AT MARITIME FRONTIERS
Art. 20. Classification of vessels.—A vessel is considered as infected which has plague or cholera on board, or which has presented one or more cases of plague or cholera within seven days.
A vessel is considered as suspicious on board of which there were cases of plague or cholera at the time of departure or have been during the voyage, but on which there have been no new cases within seven days.
A vessel is considered as uninfected which, although coming from an infected port, has had neither death nor any case of plague or cholera on board either before departure, during the voyage, or at the time of arrival.
Art. 21. Ships infected with plague shall be subjected to the following measures:
- 1. Medical inspection.
- 2. The patients shall be immediately landed and isolated.
- 3. The other persons shall also be landed, if possible, and subjected, from the date of their arrival, either to an observation[1] which shall not exceed five days and may be followed or not by a surveillance[2] of five days at most, or simply to a surveillance not to exceed ten days.
It is within the discretion of the health authority of the port to apply whichever of these measures appears preferable to him according to the date of the last case, the condition of the vessel, and the local possibilities.
- ↑ By "observation" is meant the isolation of the passengers, either on board a vessel or at a sanitary station, before they are granted pratique. [Footnote in original.]
- ↑ By "surveillance" is meant that the passengers are not isolated and that they immediately obtain pratique, but that the attention of the authorities is called to them wherever they go and that they are subjected to a medical examination to ascertain the state of their health. [Footnote in original.]
For text of U.S. declaration regarding "observation" and "surveillance," see footnote 1, p. 359.
