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DURBAN,
December 22, 1896
MESSRS GOODRICKE, LAUGHTON & COOKE
GENTLEMEN,
Please find replies to your interrogations:
1st. How long after contraction would the symptoms of bubonic fever or plague be manifest?
The period of incubation varies from a few hours to a week (Crook-shank’s, 4th Edition, 1896). I have killed guinea pigs in 24 hours by inoculating with the cultivation.
2nd. Would you expect the disease to exist on a ship 18 days after leaving the infected port, meanwhile no sickness on board?—No.
3rd. What would be the effect of keeping 350 Indians cooped up in a small steamer at the outer anchorage for a considerable time during this hot weather?—Most disastrous to the Indians.
Your sincerely,
(Signed) J. PERROTT PRINCE, M.D.
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December 22, 1896
DEAR SIR,
For your information regarding the plague now prevalent in Bombay, I will answer your questions seriatim.
Firstly, the incubation period is generally considered to be from 2 to 8 days, though Sir Walter Broadbent considers the period from a few hours to 21 days. Twenty-one days appears to be the outside limit the disease can require to make itself manifest after contraction.
Secondly, in my opinion, if there was beyond doubt a clean bill of health during a 21 days’ voyage, there would be no danger of the disease in that boat. Thirdly, the keeping closely packed of a large number of persons in a confined space is always liable to lead to ill health, and therefore to be avoided if possible.
I am,
Faithfully yours,
(Signed) N. S. HARRISON,
M.D., B.A., CANTAB.
