United States Treaty Series/Volume 1/International sanitary convention (1912)

International sanitary convention (1912)
3880301International sanitary convention1912

INTERNATIONAL SANITARY CONVENTION

  • Convention signed at Paris January 17, 1912, with appendixes
  • Senate advice and consent to ratification of convention, with an understanding, February 19, 1913[1]
  • Ratified by the President of the United States, with an understanding, March 22, 1913[1]
  • Procès-verbal of first deposit of ratifications (including that of the United States) at Paris dated October 7, 1920[2]
  • Entered into force October 7, 1920
  • Proclaimed by the President of the United States December 11, 1920
  • Superseded by convention of June 21, 1926,[3] as modified, as between contracting parties to the later convention; replaced by International Sanitary Regulations (World Health Organization Regulations No. 2) of May 25, 1951,[4] as amended, as between states bound by the regulations
42 Stat. 1823; Treaty Series 649

[TRANSLATION]

Convention

His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia, in the name of the German Empire; the President of the United States of America; the President of the Argentine Republic; His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, etc., etc., and Apostolical King of Hungary; His Majesty the King of the Belgians; the President of the Republic of Bolivia; the President of the Republic of the United States of Brazil; His Majesty the King of the Bulgarians; the President of the Republic of Chile; the President of the Republic of Colombia; the President of the Republic of Costa Rica; the President of the Republic of Cuba; His Majesty the King of Denmark; the President of the Republic of Ecuador; His Majesty the King of Spain; the President of the French Republic; His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Territories Beyond the Seas, Emperor of India; His Majesty the King of the Hellenes; the President of the Republic of Guatemala; the President of the Republic of Haiti; the President of the Republic of Honduras; His Majesty the King of Italy; His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxemburg; the President of the United Mexican States; His Majesty the King of Montenegro; His Majesty the King of Norway; the President of the Republic of Panama; Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands; His Majesty the Shah of Persia; the President of the Portuguese Republic; His Majesty the King of Rumania; His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias; the President of the Republic of Salvador; His Majesty the King of Servia; His Majesty the King of Siam; His Majesty the King of Sweden; the Swiss Federal Council; His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans; His Highness the Khedive of Egypt, acting within the limits of the powers conferred upon him by the Imperial firmans, and the President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,

Having decided to make such modifications in the provisions of the Sanitary Convention signed at Paris on December 3, 1903,[5] as are warranted by the new data of prophylactic science and experience, to enact new international regulations in regard to yellow fever, and to extend as far as possible the field of application of the principles underlying the international sanitary regulations, have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries, to wit:

His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia,

Baron von Stein, Superior Privy Government Counselor, Reporting Counselor in the Imperial Office of the Interior, member of the Board of Health of the Empire;

Professor Gaffky, Superior Privy Medical Counselor, Director of the Royal Institute for Infectious Diseases at Berlin, member of the Board of Health of the Empire;

The President of the United States of America,

Mr. A. Bailly-Blanchard, Minister Plenipotentiary, Counselor of the Embassy of the United States of America at Paris;

The President of the Argentine Republic,

Dr. Francisco de Veyga, Inspector General of the Medical Services of the Argentine Army, Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and member of the National Board of Hygiene;

Dr. Ezequiel Castilla, member of the Committee of the International Office of Public Hygiene;

His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, etc., etc., and Apostolic King of Hungary,

Baron Maximilian von Gagern, Grand Cross of the Imperial Austrian Order of Francis Joseph, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Confederation;

Knight Francis von Haberler, Doctor of Law and Medicine, Ministerial Counselor in the Imperial-Royal Austrian Ministry of the Interior;

Mr. Étienne Worms, Doctor of Law, Knight of the Imperial Austrian Order of Francis Joseph, Section Counselor in the Imperial Royal Austrian Ministry of Commerce;

Mr. Jules Bölcs de Nagybudafa, Counselor in the Royal Hungarian Ministry of the Interior;

Baron Calman von Müller, Doctor of Medicine, Ministerial Counselor, Professor in the Royal Hungarian University of Budapest, President of the Board of Health of the Kingdom, member of the Hungarian Chamber of Magnates;

His Majesty the King of the Belgians,

Mr. O. Velghe, Director General of the Sanitary and Hygienic Service in the Ministry of the Interior, Secretary Member of the Superior Board of Hygiene, Officer of the Order of Leopold;

Mr. E. van Ermengem, Professor in the University of Ghent, member of the Superior Board of Hygiene, Commander of the Order of Leopold;

The President of the Republic of Bolivia,

Mr. Ismael Montes, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

Dr. Chervin, Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor;

The President of the Republic of the United States of Brazil,

Dr. Henrique Figueiredo de Vasconcellos, Chief of Service in the Oswaldo Cruz Institute at Rio de Janeiro;

His Majesty the King of Bulgarians,

Mr. Dimitrius Stancioff, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

Dr. Chichkoff, Medical Captain in the Bulgarian Army;

The President of the Republic of Chile,

Mr. Federico Puga Borne, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

The President of the Republic of Colombia,

Dr. Juan E. Manrique, Minister Plenipotentiary;

The President of the Republic of Costa Rica,

Dr. Alberto Alvarez Cañas, Consul General of the Republic of Costa Rica at Paris;

The President of the Republic of Cuba,

General Tomás Collazo y Tejada, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

His Majesty the King of Denmark,

Count de Reventlow, Grand Cross of the Order of Danebrog, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

The President of the Republic of Ecuador,

Mr. Victor M. Rendon, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

Mr. E. Dorn y de Alsua, First Secretary of the Legation of the Republic of Ecuador at Paris;

His Majesty the King of Spain,

Mr. Francisco de Reynoso, Minister Resident, Counselor of the Royal Embassy of Spain at Paris;

Dr. Angel Pulido Fernandez, Sanitary Counselor, former Director General of Health, life Senator of the Kingdom;

The President of the French Republic,

Mr. Camille Barrère, Ambassador of the French Republic to H. M. the King of Italy, Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honor;

Mr. Fernand Gavarry, Minister Plenipotentiary of the first class, Director of Administrative and Technical Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honor;

Dr. Emile Roux, President of the Superior Board of Public Hygiene of France, Director of the Pasteur Institute, Commander of the National Order of the Legion of Honor;

Mr. Louis Mirman, Director of Public Assistance and Hygiene in the Ministry of the Interior;

Dr. A. Calmette, Director of the Pasteur Institute of Lille, Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honor;

Mr. Ernest Ronssin, Consul General of France in India, Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honor;

Mr. Georges Harismendy, Consul General, Assistant Chief of the Bureau of International Unions and Consular Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor;

Mr. Paul Roux, Assistant Chief in the Ministry of the Interior, Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor;

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Territories Beyond the Seas, Emperor of India,

The Honorable Lancelot Douglas Carnegie, Minister Plenipotentiary, Counselor of the Royal British Embassy at Paris, member of the Royal Order of Victoria;

Dr. Ralph William Johnstone, Medical Inspector of the Local Government Board;

Surgeon General Sir Benjamin Franklin, former Director General of the Indian Medical Service and former Head of the Health Service for British India, Knight Commander of the Order of the Empire of India, Knight of Grace of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem;

His Majesty the King of the Hellenes,

Mr. Demetrius Caclamanos, First Secretary of the Royal Legation of Greece at Paris;

The President of the Republic of Guatemala,

Mr. José Maria Lardizabal, Chargé d'Affaires of the Republic of Guatemala at Paris;

The President of the Republic of Haiti,

Dr. Auguste Casséus;

The President of the Republic of Honduras,

Mr. Désiré Pector, Consul General of the Republic of Honduras at Paris, member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration of The Hague;

His Majesty the King of Italy,

Commander Rocco Santoliquido, Deputy Doctor of Medicine, Director General of Public Health of the Kingdom;

Dr. Adolfo Cotta, Chief of Division in the Royal Ministry of the Interior;

His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxemburg,

Mr. E. L. Bastin, Consul of Luxemburg at Paris;

Dr. Praum, Director of the Practical Laboratory of Bacteriology at Luxemburg;

The President of the United Mexican States,

Dr. Miguel Zuñiga y Azcarate;

His Majesty the King of Montenegro,

Mr. Louis Brunet, Consul General of Montenegro at Paris;

Dr. Edouard Binet, Chief Surgeon of the Hospital of the Eight Score;

His Majesty the King of Norway,

Mr. Frederick Hartvig Herman Wedel Jarlsberg, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

The President of the Republic of Panama,

Mr. Juan Antonio Jimenez, Chargé d'Affaires of the Republic of Panama at Paris;

Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands,

Dr. W. P. Ruysch, Inspector General of the Sanitary Service of South Holland and Zealand;

Dr. C. Winkler, retired Medical Inspector of the Civil Health Service for Java and Madoura;

His Majesty the Shah of Persia,

Samad Khan Momtazos Saltaneh, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

The President of the Portuguese Republic,

Dr. Antonio Augusto Gonçalves Braga, Sanitary Maritime Physician at Lisbon;

His Majesty the King of Rumania,

Mr. Alexander Em. Lahovary, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias,

Mr. Platon de Waxel, Privy Councilor, permanent member of the Council of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of the Board of Public Hygiene in the Imperial Ministry of the Interior;

Dr. Freyberg, Actual Counselor of State, Official of the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, Representative of the Commission created by Supreme Order against the propagation of the plague;

The President of the Republic of Salvador,

Dr. S. Letona, Consul General of the Republic of Salvador at Paris;

His Majesty the King of Servia,

Dr. Milenko Vesnitch, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

His Majesty the King of Siam,

Dr. A. Manaud, Sanitary Counselor of the Royal Government;

His Majesty the King of Sweden,

Count Gyldenstolpe, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;

The Swiss Federal Council,

Mr. Charles Edouard Lardy, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Confederation to the President of the French Republic;

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans,

Missak Effendi, Minister Plenipotentiary;

His Highness the Khedive of Egypt,

Youssouf Pacha Saddik, Representative of the Khedival Government before the Sublime Porte;

And the President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,

Dr. Luis Piera, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic,

Who, having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed to the following provisions:

Title I. General provisions

Chapter I. Rules to be observed by the countries signing the Convention as soon as plague, cholera, or yellow fever appears in their territory

SECTION I. NOTIFICATION AND SUBSEQUENT COMMUNICATIONS TO THE OTHER COUNTRIES

Art. 1. Each Government shall immediately notify the other Governments of the first authentic case of plague, cholera, or yellow fever discovered in its territory.

Likewise, the first authentic case of cholera, plague, or yellow fever occurring outside the districts already stricken shall constitute the object of an immediate notification to the other Governments.

Art. 2. Every notification as provided for in article 1 shall be accompanied or very promptly followed by particulars regarding:

  • 1. The neighborhood in which the disease has appeared;
  • 2. The date of its appearance, its origin, and its form;
  • 3. The number of established cases and the number of deaths;
  • 4. The extent of the area or areas affected;
  • 5. In the case of plague, the existence of plague or of an unusual mortality among rats;
  • 6. In the case of yellow fever, the existence of Stegomyia calopus;
  • 7. The measures immediately taken.

Art. 3. The notification and the information contemplated in articles 1 and 2 are to be addressed to the diplomatic or consular agencies in the capital of the contaminated country.

In the case of countries not represented there, they shall be transmitted directly by telegraph to the Governments of these countries.

Art. 4. The notification and the information contemplated in articles 1 and 2 shall be followed by subsequent communications sent regularly, so as to keep the Governments informed as to the progress of the epidemic.

These communications, which shall be sent at least once a week and which shall be as complete as possible, shall state more particularly the precautions taken with a view to preventing the spread of the disease.

They shall specify: 1st The prophylactic measures applied in regard to sanitary or medical inspection, isolation, and disinfection; 2d the measures enforced upon the departure of ships in order to prevent the exportation of the disease and especially, in the cases contemplated under Nos. 5 and 6 of article 2 above, the measures taken respectively against rats and mosquitoes.

Art. 5. The prompt and faithful execution of the foregoing provisions is of prime importance.

The notifications are of no real value unless each Government is itself opportunely informed of cases of plague, cholera, and yellow fever and of doubtful cases occurring in its territory. It can not therefore be too strongly recommended to the various Governments that they make compulsory the announcement of cases of plague, cholera, and yellow fever and that they keep themselves informed of any unusual mortality among rats, especially in ports.

Art. 6. It is desirable that neighboring countries make special arrangements with a view to organizing a direct information service among the competent heads of departments in matters concerning contiguous territories or those which have close commercial relations.

SECTION II. CONDITIONS WHICH WARRANT CONSIDERING A TERRITORIAL AREA AS BEING CONTAMINATED OR AS HAVING BECOME HEALTHY AGAIN

Art. 7. The notification of a single case of plague, cholera, or yellow fever shall not involve the application, against the territorial area in which it has occurred, of the measures prescribed in Chapter II hereinbelow.

However, when several unimported cases of plague or yellow fever have appeared or when the cholera cases become localized,[6] the area may be considered contaminated.

Art. 8. In order to confine the measures to the stricken regions only, the Governments shall apply them only to arrivals from the contaminated areas.

By the word area is meant a portion of territory definitely specified in the particulars which accompany or follow the notification; for instance, a province, a government, a district, a department, a canton, an island, a commune, a city, a quarter of a city, a village, a port, a polder, a hamlet, etc., whatever be the area and population of these portions of territory.

However, this restriction to the contaminated area shall only be accepted upon the formal condition that the Government of the contaminated country take the necessary measures: 1st To combat the spread of the epidemic and 2d, if it is a question of cholera, to prevent, unless previously disinfected, the exportation of the things mentioned under Nos. 1 and 2 of article 13 and coming from the contaminated area.

When an area is contaminated, no restrictive measures shall be taken against arrivals from such area if such arrivals have left it at least five days before the beginning of the epidemic.

Art. 9.[7] In order that an area may be considered as being no longer contaminated it must be officially stated:

  • 1. That there has neither been a death nor a new case, as regards the plague or cholera for five days, and as regards the yellow fever for eighteen days, either since the isolation or since the death or cure of the last patient;
  • 2. That all measures for disinfection have been applied; besides, if it is a case of plague, that the measures against rats have been executed, and, in case of yellow fever, that the precautions against mosquitoes have been taken.

SECTION III. MEASURES IN CONTAMINATED PORTS UPON THE DEPARTURE OF VESSELS

Art. 10. The competent authority shall be obliged to take effective measures:

  • 1. To prevent the embarkation of persons showing symptoms of plague, cholera, or yellow fever;
  • 2. In case of plague or cholera, to prevent the exportation of merchandise or any articles which he may consider contaminated and which have not been previously disinfected on land, under the supervision of the physician delegated by the public authority;
  • 3. In case of plague, to prevent the embarkation of rats;
  • 4. In case of cholera, to see that the drinking water taken on board is wholesome;
  • 5. In case of yellow fever, to prevent mosquitoes from coming on board.

Chapter II. Measures of defense against contaminated territories

SECTION I. PUBLICATION OF THE PRESCRIBED MEASURES

Art. 11. The Government of each country shall be obliged to immediately publish the measures which it believes necessary to prescribe with regard to arrivals from a contaminated country or territorial area.

It shall at once communicate this publication to the diplomatic or consular officer of the contaminated country residing in its capital, as well as to the international boards of health.

It shall likewise be obliged to make known, through the same channels, the revocation of these measures or any modifications which may be made therein.

In default of a diplomatic or consular office in the capital, the communications shall be made directly to the Government of the country concerned.

SECTION II. MERCHANDISE—DISINFECTION—IMPORTATION AND TRANSIT—BAGGAGE

Art. 12. No merchandise is capable by itself of transmitting plague, cholera, or yellow fever. It only becomes dangerous when contaminated by plague or cholera products.

Art. 13. Disinfection shall be applied only in case of plague or cholera and only to merchandise and articles which the local health authority considers contaminated.

However, in case of plague or cholera, the merchandise and articles enumerated below may be subjected to disinfection or even prohibited entry, independently of any proof that they are or are not contaminated:

1. Body linen, clothing worn (wearing apparel), and bedding which has been used.

When these articles are being transported as baggage or as a result of a change of residence (household goods), they shall not be prohibited and are subject to the provisions of article 20.

Packages left by soldiers and sailors and returned to their country after death are treated the same as the articles comprised in the first paragraph of No. 1.

2. Rags (including those for making paper), with the exception, as to cholera, of compressed rags transported as wholesale merchandise in hooped bales.

Fresh waste coming directly from spinning mills, weaving mills, manufactories, or bleacheries; artificial wools (shoddy), and fresh paper trimmings shall not be forbidden.

Art. 14. The transit of the merchandise and articles specified under Nos. 1 and 2 of the preceding article shall not be prohibited if they are so packed that they can not be manipulated en route.

Likewise, when the merchandise or articles are transported in such a manner that it is impossible for them to have been in contact with contaminated articles en route, their transit across an infected territorial area shall not constitute an obstacle to their entry into the country of destination.

Art. 15. The merchandise and articles specified under Nos. 1 and 2 of article 13 shall not be subject to the application of the measures prohibiting entry if it is proven to the authorities of the country that they were shipped at least five days before the beginning of the epidemic.

Art. 16. The mode and place of disinfection, as well as the methods to be employed for the destruction of rats, insects, and mosquitoes, shall be determined by the authorities of the country of destination. These operations should be performed in such a manner as to cause the least possible injury to the articles. Clothing, old rags, infected materials for dressing wounds, papers, and other articles of little value may be destroyed by fire.

It shall devolve upon each Nation to determine the question as to the possible payment of damages as a result of the disinfection and destruction of the articles mentioned above and of the destruction of rats, insects, and mosquitoes.

If, on the occasion of the taking of measures for the destruction of rats, insects, and mosquitoes on board vessels, the health authorities should levy a tax either directly or through a society or private individual, the rate of such tax must be fixed by a tariff published in advance and so calculated that no profit shall be derived by the Nation or the Health Department from its application as a whole.

Art. 17. Letters and correspondence, printed matter, books, newspapers, business papers, etc. (postal parcels not included) shall not be subjected to any restriction or disinfection.

In case of yellow fever, postal parcels shall not be subjected to any restriction or disinfection.

Art. 18. Merchandise, arriving by land or sea, shall not be detained at frontiers or in ports.

The only measures which it is permissible to prescribe in regard to them are specified in articles 13 and 16 above.

However, if merchandise arriving by sea in bulk or in defective bails has 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. 19. When merchandise has been disinfected by applying the provisions of article 13, or temporarily warehoused in accordance with the third paragraph of article 18, 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. 20. Soiled linen, clothing, and articles constituting part of baggage or furniture (household goods) coming from a contaminated territorial area shall only be disinfected in case of plague or cholera and only when the health authority considers them contaminated.

SECTION III. MEASURES IN PORTS AND AT MARITIME FRONTIERS

A. Classification of vessels

Art. 21. A vessel is considered as infected which has plague, cholera, or yellow fever on board, or which has presented one or more cases of plague, cholera, or yellow fever within seven days.

A vessel is considered as suspicious on board of which there were cases of plague, cholera, or yellow fever 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, cholera, or yellow fever on board either before departure, during the voyage, or at the time of arrival.

B. Measures concerning plague

Art. 22. Ships infected with plague shall be subjected to the following measures:

1. Medical inspection.

2. The patients shall be immediately landed and isolated.

3. All persons who have been in contact with the patients and those whom the health authority of the port has reason to consider suspicious shall be landed if possible. They may be subjected either to observation,[8] or to surveillance,[9] or to observation followed by surveillance, and the total duration of these measures shall not exceed five days from the date of arrival.

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.

4. The soiled linen, wearing apparel, and other articles of the crew[10] and passengers which are considered by the health authority as being contaminated shall be disinfected.

5. The parts of the vessel which have been occupied by persons stricken with plague or which are considered by the health authority as being contaminated shall be disinfected.

6. The destruction of the rats on the vessel shall take place before or after the discharge of the cargo, avoiding injury to the cargo, the platings, and the engines as far as possible. The operation shall be performed as soon and as quickly as possible, and shall not in any event last over forty-eight hours.

In the case of vessels in ballast, this operation shall be performed as soon as possible before taking on cargo.

Art. 23. Vessels suspected of plague shall be subjected to the measures indicated under Nos. 1, 4, 5, and 6 of article 22.

Moreover, the crew and passengers may be subjected to a surveillance not to exceed five days from the arrival of the vessel. The landing of the crew may be forbidden during the same period except in connection with the service.

Art. 24. Vessels uninfected with plague shall be granted pratique immediately, whatever be the nature of their bills of health.

The only measures which the authority of the port of arrival may prescribe with regard to them shall be the following:

1. Medical inspection.

2. Disinfection of the soiled linen, wearing apparel, and other articles of the crew and passengers, but only in exceptional cases when the health authority has special reason to believe that they are contaminated.

3. Although the measure should not be laid down as a general rule, the health authority may subject vessels coming from a contaminated port to an operation designed to destroy the rats on board, either before or after the discharge of the cargo. This operation should take place as soon and as quickly as possible and should not in any event last more than twenty-four hours, avoiding hindrance to the movement of the passengers and crew between the vessel and the shore and, as far as possible, injury to the cargo, plating, and engines. As for vessels in ballast, that operation will, if there be occasion, be performed as soon and as quickly as possible, and at all events before taking on cargo.

The crew and passengers may be subjected to a surveillance not to exceed five days from the date on which the vessel left the contaminated port. The landing of the crew may also be forbidden during the same time except in connection with the service.

The competent authority of the port of arrival may always demand an affidavit from the ship's physician, or in default of such physician, from the captain, to the effect that there has not been a case of plague on the vessel since its departure and that no unusual mortality among the rats has been observed.

Art. 25. When rats have been recognized as plague-stricken on board an uninfected vessel as a result of a bacteriological examination, or when an unusual mortality has been discovered among these rodents, the following measures shall be applied:

I. Vessels with plague-stricken rats:

  • a) Medical inspection.
  • b) The rats shall be destroyed either before or after the discharge of the cargo, avoiding injury, as far as possible, to the cargo, plating, and engines. This operation should take place as soon as possible, in no case lasting more than forty-eight hours. On vessels in ballast this operation shall be performed as soon and as quickly as possible and at all events before taking on cargo.
  • c) The parts of the vessel and the articles which the health authority considers to be contaminated shall be disinfected.
  • d) The passengers and crew may be subjected to a surveillance whose duration shall not exceed five days from the date of arrival.

II. Vessels on which an unusual mortality among rats is discovered:

  • a) Medical inspection.
  • b) An examination of the rats with regard to the plague shall be made as far and as quickly as possible.
  • c) If the destruction of the rats is deemed necessary, it shall take place under the conditions indicated above for vessels with plague-stricken rats.
  • d) Until all suspicion is removed, the passengers and crew may be subjected to a surveillance whose duration shall not exceed five days from the date of arrival.

Art. 26. It is recommended that vessels be periodically rid of their rats, the operation to take place at least once every six months. The health officer of the port in which the rat ridding operation is performed shall deliver to the captain, owner, or agent, whenever request is made therefor, a certificate showing the date of the operation, the port where it was performed, and the method employed.

It is recommended that the health authorities of ports at which vessels stop which practice periodical rat ridding keep account of the aforementioned certificates in determining the measures to be taken, especially as regards the provisions of No. 3 of the 2d paragraph of article 24.

C. Measures concerning cholera

Art. 27. Vessels infected with cholera shall be subjected to the following measures:

1. Medical inspection.

2. The patients shall be immediately landed and isolated.

3. The other persons shall likewise be landed and subjected, from the date of arrival of the vessel, to an observation or a surveillance whose duration shall vary according to the sanitary condition of the vessel and the date of the last case, without, however, exceeding five days; provided this period is not exceeded, the medical authority may proceed to make a bacteriological examination as far as necessary.

4. The soiled linen, wearing apparel, and other articles of the crew and passengers which are considered by the health authority of the port as being contaminated shall be disinfected.

5. The parts of the vessel which have been occupied by cholera patients or which are considered by the health authority as being contaminated shall be disinfected.

6. When the drinking water stored on board is considered suspicious, it shall be turned off, after being disinfected, and replaced if necessary by water of good quality.

The health authority may prohibit turning water ballast off in ports if it has been taken on in a contaminated port, unless it has been previously disinfected.

It may be forbidden to let run or throw human dejections or the residuary waters of the vessel into the waters of the port, unless they are first disinfected.

Art. 28. Vessels suspected of cholera shall be subjected to the measures prescribed under Nos. 1, 4, 5, and 6 of article 27.

The crew and passengers may be subjected to a surveillance not to exceed five days from the arrival of the vessel. It is recommended that the landing of the crew be prevented during the same period except for purposes connected with the service.

On condition that the measures provided by the foregoing paragraph are not aggravated, the health authorities may cause the bacteriological examination to be made in so far as it may be necessary.

The health authorities may prohibit turning water ballast off in ports if it has been taken on in a contaminated port, unless it has been previously disinfected.

Art. 29. Vessels uninfected with cholera shall be granted pratique immediately, whatever be the nature of their bill of health.

The only measures to which they may be subjected by the health authority of the port of arrival shall be those provided under Nos. 1, 4, and 6 of article 27.

The health authority may forbid letting water ballast off in ports if it has been taken on in a contaminated port, unless it has been previously disinfected.

With regard to the state of their health, the crew and passengers may be subjected to a surveillance not to exceed five days from the date on which the vessel left the contaminated port.

It is recommended that the landing of the crew be forbidden during the same period except for purposes connected with the service.

The competent authority of the port of arrival may always demand an affidavit from the ship's physician or, in the absence of such, from the captain, to the effect that there has not been a case of cholera on board since the vessel sailed.

D. Measures concerning the yellow fever

Art. 30. Vessels infected with yellow fever shall be subjected to the following measures:

  • 1. Medical inspection.
  • 2. The patients shall be landed under such conditions that they will be protected from mosquito bites, and duly isolated.
  • 3. The other persons may likewise be landed and subjected, from the date of arrival, to an observation or surveillance not exceeding six days.
  • 4. Vessels shall anchor, as far as possible, at a distance of 200 meters from the shore.
  • 5. If possible, the mosquitoes on board shall be exterminated before the cargo is discharged. If this is impossible, all necessary measures shall be taken in order that the persons employed in discharging the cargo may not be infected. These persons shall be subjected to a surveillance not to exceed six days from the time they cease to work on board.

Art. 31. Vessels suspected of yellow fever shall be subjected to the measures indicated under Nos. 1, 4, and 5 of the preceding article.

Moreover, the crew and passengers may be subjected to a surveillance not to exceed six days from the date of arrival of the vessel.

Art. 32. Vessels uninfected with yellow fever shall be granted pratique immediately after medical inspection, whatever be the nature of their bill of health.

Art. 33. The measures contemplated in articles 30 and 31 do not concern the countries in which stegomya exist. In other countries they shall be applied to the extent deemed necessary by the medical authorities.

E. Provisions common to all three diseases

Art. 34. In applying the measures set forth in articles 22 to 33, the competent authority shall take into account the presence of a physician and of disinfecting apparatuses (chambers) on board the vessels of the three categories mentioned above.

In regard to plague, he shall likewise take into account the installation on board of apparatus for the destruction of rats.

The health authorities of nations which may deem it suitable to reach an understanding on this point may excuse from the medical inspection and other measures those uninfected vessels which have on board a physician specially commissioned by their country.

Art. 35. Special measures, especially (as regards cholera) a bacteriological examination, may be prescribed in regard to any vessel in a bad hygienic condition or crowded.

Art. 36. Any vessel not desiring to submit to the obligations imposed by the port authority in pursuance of the stipulations of the present convention, shall be free to put to sea again.

It may be permitted to land its cargo after the necessary precautions have been taken, viz:

  • 1. Isolation of the vessel, crew, and passengers.
  • 2. In regard to plague, inquiry as to the existence of an unusual mortality among the rats.
  • 3. In regard to cholera, the substitution of good water in place of the drinking water stored on board, when the latter is considered suspicious.

It may also be permitted to land passengers who so request upon condition that they submit to the measures prescribed by the local authority.

Art. 37. Vessels hailing from a contaminated port and which have been subjected to sanitary measures applied in an efficient manner in a port belonging to one of the contracting countries, shall not undergo the same measures a second time upon their arrival in a new port, whether or not the latter belong to the same country, provided no incident has occurred which would involve the application of the sanitary measures contemplated hereinbefore, and provided they have not touched at a contaminated port.

A vessel shall not be considered as having stopped at a port when, without having been in communication with the shore, it lands only passengers and their baggage and the mail, or takes on only the mail, or passengers with or without baggage who have not communicated with the port or with a contaminated area. In case of yellow fever, the vessel must besides have kept away from shore as much as possible, and at a distance of 200 meters, in order to prevent the invasion of mosquitoes.

Art. 38. A port authority who applies sanitary measures shall deliver to the captain, owner, or agent, whenever requested, a certificate specifying the nature of the measures and the reasons for which they have been applied.

Art. 39. Passengers arriving on an infected vessel shall have a right to demand a certificate of the health authority of the port showing the date of their arrival and the measures to which they and their baggage have been subjected.

Art. 40. Coasting vessels shall be subjected to special measures to be established by mutual agreement among the countries concerned.

Art. 41. The Governments of riparian Nations on the same sea may conclude special agreements among themselves, taking into account their special situations and in order to render more effective and less annoying the application of the sanitary measures provided by the Convention.

Art. 42. It is desirable that the number of ports provided with a sufficient organization and equipment to receive a vessel, whatever be her sanitary condition, should, in the case of each Nation, be in proportion to the importance of traffic and navigation. However, and without prejudice to the rights of the Governments to agree on organizing common sanitary stations, each country should provide at least one of the ports on the coast line of each of its seas with such an organization and equipment.

Moreover, it is recommended that all great ports of maritime navigation be equipped in such a way that at least uninfected vessels may undergo the prescribed sanitary measures therein as soon as they arrive and not be sent to another port for this purpose.

The Governments shall make known the ports which are open in their country to arrivals from ports contaminated with plague, cholera, and yellow fever, and particularly those which are open to infected or suspicious vessels.

Art. 43. It is recommended that there be established in large maritime ports:

  • a) A regular medical service of the port and a permanent medical surveillance of the sanitary conditions of the crews and the inhabitants of the port.
  • b) Means for the transportation of patients and places set apart for their isolation and for the observation of suspected persons.
  • c) The necessary plants for efficient disinfection, and bacteriological laboratories.
  • d) A supply of drinking water beyond suspicion for the use of the port, and a system affording all possible security for carrying off refuse and sewage.

Art. 44. It is also recommended that the Contracting Nations take into account, in the treatment to be accorded the arrivals from a country, the measures taken by the latter for combating infectious diseases and for preventing their exportation.

SECTION IV. MEASURES ON LAND FRONTIERS—TRAVELERS—RAILROADS—FRONTIER ZONES—RIVER ROUTES

Art. 45. No land quarantines shall be established.

Only persons showing symptoms of plague, cholera, or yellow fever shall be detained at frontiers.

This rule shall not bar the right of each Nation to close a part of its frontiers in case of necessity.

Art. 46. It is important that travelers be subjected to surveillance on the part of railroad employees with a view to determining the state of their health.

Art. 47. Medical interference shall be limited to an examination of the passengers and the care to be given to the sick. If such an examination is made, it should be combined as far as possible with the customhouse inspection to the end that travelers may be detained as short a time as possible. Only persons who are obviously ill shall be subjected to a thorough medical examination.

Art. 48. As soon as travelers coming from an infected locality shall have arrived at their destination, it would be of greatest utility to subject them to a surveillance which ought not to exceed, counting from the date of departure, five days in case of plague or cholera and six days in case of yellow fever.

Art. 49. The Governments reserve the right to take special measures in regard to certain categories of persons, notably gypsies, vagabonds, emigrants, and persons traveling or crossing the frontier in troops.

Art. 50. Cars used for the conveyance of passengers, mail, and baggage shall not be detained at frontiers.

If it should happen that one of these cars is contaminated or has been occupied by a plague or cholera patient, it shall be detached from the train and disinfected as soon as possible.

The same rule shall apply to freight cars.

Art. 51. The measures concerning the crossing of frontiers by railroad and postal employees shall be determined by the companies or departments concerned and shall be so arranged as not to hinder the service.

Art. 52. The regulation of frontier traffic and questions pertaining thereto, as well as the adoption of exceptional measures of surveillance, shall be left to special arrangements between the contiguous nations.

Art. 53. It shall be the province of the Governments of the riparian Nations to regulate the sanitary conditions of river routes by means of special arrangements.

Title II. Special provisions applicable to oriental and far eastern countries

SECTION I. MEASURES IN PORTS CONTAMINATED UPON THE DEPARTURE OF VESSELS

Art. 54. Every person, including the members of the crew, who takes passage on board a vessel shall, at the time of embarkation, be examined individually in the daytime on shore, for the necessary length of time, by a physician delegated by the public authority. The consular authority of the nation to which the vessel belongs may be present at this examination.

As an exception to this stipulation, the medical examination may take place on shipboard at Alexandria and Port Said, when the local health authority deems it expedient, provided that the third-class passengers shall not be permitted to leave the vessel. This medical examination may be made at night in the case of first and second class passengers but not of third-class passengers.

SECTION II. MEASURES WITH RESPECT TO ORDINARY VESSELS HAILING FROM CONTAMINATED NORTHERN PORTS AND APPEARING AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE SUEZ CANAL OR IN EGYPTIAN PORTS

Art. 55. Ordinary uninfected vessels hailing from a plague or cholera infected port of Europe or the basin of the Mediterranean and presenting themselves for passage through the Suez Canal shall be allowed to pass through in quarantine. They shall continue their route under observation of five days.

Art. 56. Ordinary uninfected vessels wishing to make a landing in Egypt may stop at Alexandria or Port Said, where the passengers shall complete the observation period of five days either on shipboard or in a sanitary station, according to the decision of the local health authority.

Art. 57. The measures to which infected or suspected vessels shall be subjected which hail from a plague or cholera infected port of Europe or the shores of the Mediterranean, and which desire to effect a landing in one of the Egyptian ports or to pass through the Suez Canal, shall be determined by the Board of Health of Egypt in conformity with the stipulations of the present Convention.

The regulations containing these measures shall, in order to become effective, be accepted by the various Powers represented on the Board; they shall determine the measures to which vessels, passengers, and merchandise are to be subjected and shall be presented within the shortest possible period.

SECTION III. MEASURES IN THE RED SEA

A. Measures with respect to ordinary vessels hailing from the south and appearing in ports of the Red Sea or bound toward the Mediterranean

Art. 58. Independently of the general provisions contained in Section III, Chapter 2, Title I, concerning the classification of and the measures applicable to infected, suspected, or uninfected vessels, the special provisions contained in the ensuing articles are applicable to ordinary vessels coming from the south and entering the Red Sea.

Art. 59. Uninfected vessels must have completed or shall be required to complete an observation period of five full days from the time of their departure from the last infected port.

They shall be allowed to pass through the Suez Canal in quarantine and shall enter the Mediterranean continuing the aforesaid observation period of five days. Ships having a physician and a disinfecting chamber on board shall not undergo disinfection until the passage through in quarantine begins.

Art. 60. Suspected vessels shall be treated differently according to whether they have a physician and a disinfecting apparatus (chamber) on board or not.

a) Vessels having a physician and a disinfecting apparatus (chamber) on board and fulfilling the necessary conditions shall be permitted to pass through the Suez Canal in quarantine under conditions prescribed by the regulations for the passage through.

b) Other suspected vessels having neither physician nor disinfecting apparatus (chamber) on board shall, before being permitted to pass through in quarantine, be detained at Suez or Moses Spring a sufficient length of time to carry out the disinfecting measures prescribed and to ascertain the sanitary condition of the vessel.

In the case of mail vessels or of packets specially utilized for the transportation of passengers, having no disinfecting apparatus (chamber) but having a physician on board, if the local authority can through official evidence satisfy itself that sanitation and disinfection measures have properly been carried out, either at port of departure or in the course of the voyage, passage in quarantine shall be granted.

In the case of mail vessels or of packets specially utilized for the transportation of passengers and having no disinfecting apparatus (chamber) but having a physician on board, if the last case of plague or cholera dates back longer than seven days and if the sanitary condition of the vessel is satisfactory, pratique may be granted at Suez when the operations prescribed by the regulations are completed.

When a vessel has had a run of less than seven days without infection, the passengers bound for Egypt shall be landed at an establishment designated by the Board of Health of Alexandria and isolated a sufficient length of time to complete the observation period of five days. Their soiled linen and wearing apparel shall be disinfected. They shall then receive pratique.

Vessels having had a run of less than seven days without infection and desiring to obtain pratique in Egypt shall be detained in an establishment designated by the Board of Health of Alexandria for a sufficient length of time to complete the observation period of five days. They shall undergo the measures prescribed for infected vessels.

When the plague or cholera has appeared exclusively among the crew, only the soiled linen of the latter shall be disinfected, but it shall all be disinfected, including that in the living quarters of the crew.

Art. 61. Infected vessels are divided into vessels with a physician and a disinfecting apparatus (chamber) on board, and vessels without a physician and a disinfecting apparatus (chamber).

a) Vessels without a physician and a disinfecting apparatus (chamber) shall be stopped at Moses Spring;[11] persons showing symptoms of plague or cholera shall be landed and isolated in a hospital. The disinfection shall be carried out in a thorough manner. The other passengers shall be landed and isolated in groups composed of as few persons as possible, so that the whole number may not be infected by a particular group if the plague or cholera should develop. The soiled linen, wearing apparel, and clothing of the crew and passengers, as well as the vessel, shall be disinfected.

It is to be distinctly understood that there shall be no discharge of cargo but simply a disinfection of the part of the vessel which has been infected.

The passengers shall remain for five days in an establishment designated by the Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Board of Egypt. When the cases of plague or cholera date back several days, the length of the isolation shall be diminished. This length shall vary according to the date of the cure, death, or isolation of the last patient. Thus, when the last case of plague or cholera has terminated six days before by a cure or death, or when the last patient has been isolated for six days, the observation shall last one day; if only five days have elapsed, the observation period shall be two days; if only four days have elapsed, the observation period shall be three days; if only three days have elapsed, the observation period shall be four days; and if only two days or one day has elapsed, the observation period shall be five days.

b) Vessels with a physician and a disinfecting apparatus (chamber) on board shall be stopped at Moses Spring. The ship's physician must declare, under oath, what persons on board show symptoms of plague or cholera. These patients shall be landed and isolated.

After the landing of these patients, the soiled linen of the rest of the passengers which the health authority may consider dangerous, as well as that of the crew, shall undergo disinfection on board.

When plague or cholera shall have appeared exclusively among the crew, the disinfection of the linen shall be limited to the soiled linen of the crew and the linen of the living apartments of the crew.

The ship's physician shall indicate also, under oath, the part or compartment of the vessel and the section of the hospital in which the patient or patients have been transported. He shall also declare, under oath, what persons have been in contact with the plague or cholera patient since the first manifestation of the disease, either directly or through contact with objects which might be contaminated. Such persons alone shall be considered as "suspects."

The part or compartment of the vessel and the section of the hospital in which the patient or patients have been transported shall be thoroughly disinfected. By "part of the ship" shall be meant the cabin of the patient, the neighboring cabins, the corridor on which these cabins are located, the deck, and the parts of the deck where the patients have been.

If it is impossible to disinfect the part or compartment of the vessel which has been occupied by the persons stricken with plague or cholera without landing the persons declared suspects, these persons shall be either placed in another vessel specially designated for this purpose or landed and lodged in the sanitary establishment without coming in contact with the patients, who shall be placed in the hospital.

The duration of this stay on the vessel or on shore shall be as short as possible and shall not exceed twenty-four hours.

The suspects shall undergo, either on their vessel or on the vessel designated for this purpose, an observation period whose duration shall vary according to the cases and under the conditions provided in the third paragraph of subdivision (a).

The time taken up by the prescribed operations shall be comprised in the duration of the observation period.

The passage through in quarantine may be allowed before the expiration of the periods indicated above if the health authority deems it possible. It shall at all events be granted when the disinfection has been completed, if the vessel leaves behind not only its patients but also the persons indicated above as "suspects."

A disinfecting chamber placed on a lighter may come alongside the vessel in order to expedite the disinfecting operations.

Infected vessels requesting pratique in Egypt shall be detained at Moses Spring five days; they shall, moreover, undergo the same measures as those adopted for infected vessels arriving in Europe.

B. Measures with respect to ordinary vessels hailing from the infected ports of Hedjaz during the pilgrimage season

Art. 62. If plague or cholera prevails in Hedjaz during the time of the Mecca pilgrimage, vessels coming from the Hedjaz or from any other part of the Arabian coast of the Red Sea without having embarked there any pilgrims or similar masses of persons, and which have not had any suspicious occurrence on board during the voyage, shall be placed in the category of ordinary suspected vessels. They shall be subjected to the preventive measures and to the treatment imposed on such vessels.

If they are bound for Egypt they shall undergo, in a sanitary establishment designated by the Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Board, an observation of five days from the date of departure for cholera as well as for plague. They shall be subjected, moreover, to all the measures prescribed for suspected vessels (disinfection, etc.), and shall not be granted pratique until they have passed a favorable medical examination.

It shall be understood that if the vessels have had suspicious occurrences during the voyage they shall pass the observation period at Moses Spring, which shall last five days whether it be a question of plague or cholera.

SECTION IV. ORGANIZATION OF SURVEILLANCE AND DISINFECTION AT SUEZ AND MOSES SPRING

Art. 63. The medical inspection prescribed by the regulations shall be made on each vessel arriving at Suez by one or more of the physicians of the station, being made in the daytime on vessels hailing from ports infected with plague or cholera. It may, however, be made at night on vessels which come to pass through the canal, provided they are lit by electricity and whenever the local health authority is satisfied that the lighting facilities are adequate.

Art. 64. The physicians of the Suez station shall be at least seven in number—one chief physician and six others. They must possess a regular diploma and shall be chosen preferably from among physicians who have made special practical studies in epidemiology and bacteriology. They shall be appointed by the Minister of the Interior upon the recommendation of the Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Board of Egypt. They shall receive a salary to begin at 8,000 francs and which may progressively rise to 12,000 francs for the six physicians, and vary from 12,000 to 15,000 francs for the chief physician.

If the medical service should still prove inadequate, recourse may be had to the surgeons of the navies of the several nations, who shall be placed under the authority of the chief physician of the sanitary station.

Art. 65. A corps of sanitary guards shall be intrusted with the surveillance and execution of the prophylactic measures applied in the Suez Canal, at the establishment at Moses Spring, and at Tor.

Art. 66. This corps shall comprise ten guards.

It shall be recruited from among former noncommissioned officers of the European and Egyptian armies and navies.

After their competence has been ascertained by the Board, the guards shall be appointed in the manner provided by article 14 of the Khedival decree of June 19, 1893.[12]

Art. 67. The guards shall be divided into two classes, the first comprising four and the second six guards.

Art. 68. The annual compensation allowed the guards shall be:

  • For the first class, from £160 Eg. to £200 Eg.;
  • For the second class, from £120 Eg. to £168 Eg.;
  • With a progressive increase until the maximum is reached.

Art. 69. The guards shall be invested with the character of officers of the public peace, with the right to call for assistance in case of infractions of the sanitary regulations.

They shall be placed under the immediate orders of the Director of the Suez or the Tor Bureau.

SECTION V. PASSAGE THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL IN QUARANTINE

Art. 70. The health authority of Suez shall grant the passage through in quarantine, and the Board shall be immediately informed thereof.

Doubtful cases shall be decided by the Board.

Art. 71. As soon as the permit provided for in the preceding article is granted, atelegram shall be sent to the authority designated by each Power, the dispatch of the telegram being at the expense of the vessel.

Art. 72. Each Power shall establish penalties against vessels which abandon the route indicated by the captain and unduly approach one of the ports within its territory, cases of vis major and enforced sojourn being excepted.

Art. 73. Upon a vessel's being spoken, the captain shall be obliged to declare whether he has on board any gangs of native stokers or of wage-earning employees of any description who are not inscribed on the crew list or the register kept for this purpose.

The following questions in particular shall be asked the captains of all vessels arriving at Suez from the south, and shall be answered under oath:

"Have you any helpers (stokers or other workmen) not inscribed on your crew list or on the special register? What is their nationality? Where did you embark them?"

The sanitary physicians should ascertain the presence of these helpers and if they discover that any of them are missing they should carefully seek the cause of their absence.

Art. 74. A health officer and two sanitary guards shall board the vessel and accompany her to Port Said. Their duty shall be to prevent communications and see to the execution of the prescribed measures during the passage through the canal.

Art. 75. All embarkations, landings, and transshipments of passengers or cargo are forbidden during the passage through the Suez Canal to Port Said.

However, passengers may embark at Port Said in quarantine.

Art. 76. Vessels passing through in quarantine shall make the trip from Suez to Port Said without putting into dock.

In case of stranding or of being compelled to put into dock, the necessary operations shall be performed by the personnel on board, all communications with the employees of the Suez Canal Company being avoided.

Art. 77. When troops are conveyed through the canal on suspicious or infected vessels passing through in quarantine, the trip shall be made in the daytime only. If it is necessary to stop at night in the canal, the vessels shall anchor in Lake Timsah or the Great Lake.

Art. 78. Vessels passing through in quarantine are forbidden to stop in the harbor of Port Said except in the cases contemplated in articles 75 (paragraph 2) and 79.

The supply and preparation of food on board vessels shall be effected with the means at hand on the vessels.

Stevedores or any other persons who may have gone on board shall be isolated on the quarantine lighter. Their clothing shall there undergo disinfection as per regulations.

Art. 79. When it is absolutely necessary for vessels passing through in quarantine to take on coal at Port Said, they shall perform this operation in a locality affording the necessary facilities for isolation and sanitary surveillance, to be selected by the Board of Health. When it is possible to maintain a strict supervision on board the vessel and to prevent all contact with the persons on board, the coaling of the vessel by the workmen of the port may be permitted. At night the place where the coaling is done should be illuminated by electric lights.

Art. 80. The pilots, electricians, agents of the Company, and sanitary guards shall be put off at Port Said outside of the port between the jetties and thence conducted directly to the quarantine lighter, where their clothing shall undergo disinfection when deemed necessary.

Art. 81. The war vessels hereinafter specified shall enjoy the benefits of the following provisions when passing through the Suez Canal:

They shall be recognized by the quarantine authority as uninfected upon the production of a certificate issued by the physicians on board, countersigned by the commanding officer, and affirming under oath:

a) That there has not been any case of plague or cholera on board either at the time of departure or during the passage.

  • b) That a careful examination of all persons on board, without any exception, has been made less than twelve hours before the arrival in the Egyptian port, and that it revealed no case of these diseases.

These vessels shall be exempted from the medical examination and immediately receive pratique, provided a period of five full days has elapsed since their departure from the last infected port.

In case the required period has not elapsed, the vessels may pass through the canal in quarantine without undergoing the medical examination, provided they present the above-mentioned certificate to the quarantine authorities.

The quarantine authorities shall nevertheless have a right to cause their agents to perform the medical examination on board war vessels whenever they deem it necessary.

Suspicious or infected war vessels shall be subjected to the regulations in force.

Only fighting units shall be considered as war vessels, transports and hospital ships falling under the category of ordinary vessels.

Art. 82. The Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Board of Egypt is authorized to organize the transit through Egyptian territory by rail of the mails and ordinary passengers coming from infected countries in quarantine trains, under the conditions set forth in Appendix I.

SECTION VI. SANITARY MEASURES APPLICABLE TO THE PERSIAN GULF

Art. 83. The sanitary regulation established by the articles of the present Convention shall be applied, as regards vessels entering the Persian Gulf, by the health authorities of the ports of arrival.

This regulation shall be subject to the following three reservations with respect to the classification of the vessels and to the measures to be applied to them in the Persian Gulf:

  • 1. The surveillance of the passengers and crew shall always be superseded by an observation of the same duration.
  • 2. Uninfected vessels may obtain pratique there only upon condition that five full days have elapsed since the time of their departure from the last infected port.
  • 3. In regard to suspected vessels the period of five days for the observation of the crew and passengers shall begin as soon as there is no case of plague or cholera on board.

Title III. Provisions specially applicable to pilgrimages

Chapter I. General provisions

Art. 84. The provisions of article 54 of Title II are applicable to persons and objects bound for Hedjaz or Irak-Arabi and who are to be embarked on a pilgrim ship, even if the port of embarkation is not infected with plague or cholera.

Art. 85. When cases of plague or cholera exist in the port, no embarkation shall be made on pilgrim ships until after the persons, assembled in a group, have been subjected to an observation for the purpose of ascertaining that none of them is stricken with plague or cholera.

It shall be understood that, in executing this measure, each Government may take into account the local circumstances and possibilities.

Art. 86. If local circumstances permit, the pilgrims shall be obliged to prove that they possess the means absolutely necessary to complete the pilgrimage, especially a round-trip ticket.

Art. 87. Steamships shall alone be permitted to engage in the long-voyage transportation of pilgrims, all other vessels being forbidden to engage in this traffic.

Art. 88. Pilgrim ships engaged in coasting trade and used in making the conveyances of short duration called "coasting trade" shall be subject to the provisions contained in the special regulations applicable to the Hedjaz pilgrimage, which shall be published by the Board of Health of Constantinople in accordance with the principles announced in the present Convention.

Art. 89. A vessel which does not embark a greater proportion of pilgrims of the lowest class than one per hundred tons' gross burden, in addition to its ordinary passengers (among whom pilgrims of the higher class may be included), shall not be considered as a pilgrim ship.

Art. 90. Every pilgrim ship situated in Ottoman waters must conform to the provisions contained in the special regulations applicable to the Hedjaz pilgrimage, which shall be published by the Board of Health of Constantinople in accordance with the principles set forth in the present Convention.

Art. 91. The captain shall be obliged to pay all the sanitary taxes collectible from the pilgrims, which shall be comprised in the price of the ticket.

Art. 92. As far as possible, the pilgrims who land or embark at the sanitary stations should not come in contact with one another at the points of debarkation.

The pilgrims who are landed shall be sent to the encampment in as small groups as possible.

They must be furnished with good drinking water, whether it is found on the spot or obtained by distillation.

Art. 93. When there is plague or cholera in Hedjaz, the provisions carried by the pilgrims shall be destroyed if the health authority deems it necessary.

Chapter II. Pilgrim ships—Sanitary arrangements

SECTION I. GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF VESSELS

Art. 94. The vessel must be able to lodge pilgrims between decks.

Outside of the crew, the vessel shall furnish to every individual, whatever be his age, a surface of 1.5 square meters (16 English square feet) with a height between decks of about 1.8 meters.

On vessels engaged in coasting trade each pilgrim shall have at his disposal a space of at least 2 meters wide along the gunwales of the vessel.

Art. 95. On each side of the vessel, on deck, there shall be reserved a place screened from view and provided with a hand pump so as to furnish sea water for the needs of the pilgrims. One such place shall be reserved exclusively for women.

Art. 96. In addition to the water closets for the use of the crew, the vessel shall be provided with latrines flushed with water or provided with a stopcock, in the proportion of at least one latrine for every 100 persons embarked.

There shall be latrines reserved exclusively for women.

There shall be no water closets between decks or within the hold.

Art. 97. The vessel shall have two places arranged for private cooking by the pilgrims, who shall be forbidden to make a fire elsewhere and especially on deck.

Art. 98. Infirmaries properly arranged with regard to safety and sanitary conditions shall be reserved for lodging the sick.

They shall be so arranged as to be capable of isolating, according to the kind of disease, persons stricken with transmissible ailments.

The infirmaries shall be able to receive at least 5 per cent of the pilgrims embarked, allowing at least 3 square kilometers per head.

Art. 99. Every vessel shall have on board the medicines, disinfectants, and articles necessary for the care of the sick. The regulations made for this kind of vessels by each Government shall determine the nature and quantity of the medicines.[13] The care and the remedies shall be furnished free of charge to the pilgrims.

Art. 100. Every vessel embarking pilgrims shall have on board a physician holding a regular diploma and commissioned by the Government of the country to which the vessel belongs or by the Government of the port in which the vessel takes pilgrims on board. A second physician shall be embarked as soon as the number of pilgrims carried by the vessel exceeds one thousand.

Art. 101. The captain shall be obliged to have handbills posted on board in a position which is conspicuous and accessible to those interested. They shall be in the principal languages of the countries inhabited by the pilgrims embarked, and show:

  • 1. The destination of the vessel.
  • 2. The price of the tickets.
  • 3. The daily ration of water and food allowed to each pilgrim.
  • 4. A price list of victuals not comprised in the daily ration and to be paid for extra.

Art. 102. The heavy baggage of the pilgrims shall be registered, numbered, and placed in the hold. The pilgrims shall keep with them only such articles as are absolutely necessary, the regulations made by each Government for its vessels determining the nature, quantity, and dimensions thereof.

Art. 103. The provisions of Chapters I, II (sections I, II, and III), and III of the present Title shall be posted, in the form of regulations, in the language of the nationality of the vessel as well as in the principal languages of the countries inhabited by the pilgrims embarked, in a conspicuous and accessible place on each deck and between decks on every vessel carrying pilgrims.

SECTION II. MEASURES TO BE TAKEN BEFORE DEPARTURE

Art. 104. At least three days before departure the captain, or in the absence of the captain the owner or agent, of every pilgrim ship must declare his intention to embark pilgrims to the competent authority of the port of departure. In ports of call the captain, or in the absence of the captain the owner or agent, of every pilgrim ship must make this same declaration twelve hours before the departure of the vessel. This declaration must indicate the intended day of sailing and the destination of the vessel.

Art. 105. Upon the declaration prescribed by the preceding article being made, the competent authority shall proceed to the inspection and measurement of the vessel at the expense of the captain. The consular officer of the country to which the vessel belongs may be present at this inspection.

The inspection only shall be made if the captain is already provided with a certificate of measurement issued by the competent authority of his country, unless it is suspected that the document no longer corresponds to the actual state of the vessel.[14]

Art. 106. The competent authority shall not permit the departure of a pilgrim ship until he has ascertained:

  • a) That the vessel has been put in a state of perfect cleanliness and, if necessary, disinfected.
  • b) That the vessel is in a condition to undertake the voyage without danger; that it is properly equipped, arranged, and ventilated; that it is provided with an adequate number of small boats; that it contains nothing on board which is or might become detrimental to the health or safety of the passengers, and that the deck is of wood or of iron covered with wood.
  • c) That, in addition to the provisions for the crew, there are provisions and fuel of good quality on board, suitably stored and in sufficient quantity for all the pilgrims and for the entire anticipated duration of the voyage.
  • d) That the drinking water taken on board is of good quality and from a source protected against all contamination; that there is a sufficient quantity thereof; that the tanks of drinking water on board are protected against all contamination and closed in such away that the water can only be let out through the stopcocks or pumps. The devices for letting water out called "suckers" are absolutely forbidden.
  • e) That the vessel has a distilling apparatus capable of producing at least 5 liters of water per head each day for every person embarked, including the crew.
  • f) That the vessel has a disinfecting chamber whose safety and efficiency have been ascertained by the health authority of the port of embarkation of the pilgrims.
  • g) That the crew comprises a physician holding a diploma and commissioned[15] either by the Government of the country to which the vessel belongs or by the Government of the port where the vessel takes on pilgrims, and that the vessel has a supply of medicines, all in conformity with articles 99 and 100.
  • h) That the deck of the vessel is free from all cargo and other incumbrances.
  • i) That the arrangements of the vessel are such that the measures prescribed by Section III hereinafter may be executed.

Art. 107. The captain shall not sail until he has in his possession:

1. A list viséed by the competent authority and showing the name, sex, and total number of the pilgrims whom he is authorized to embark.

2. A bill of health setting forth the name, nationality, and tonnage of the vessel, the name of the captain and of the physician, the exact number of persons embarked (crew, pilgrims, and other passengers), the nature of the cargo, and the port of departure.

The competent authority shall indicate on the bill of health whether the number of pilgrims allowed by the regulations is reached or not, and, in case it is not reached, the additional number of passengers which the vessel is authorized to embark in subsequent ports of call.

SECTION III. MEASURES TO BE TAKEN DURING THE PASSAGE

Art. 108. The deck shall remain free from encumbering objects during the voyage and shall be reserved day and night for the persons on board and be placed gratuitously at their service.

Art. 109. Every day the space between decks should be cleaned carefully and scrubbed with dry sand mixed with disinfectants while the pilgrims are on deck.

Art. 110. The latrines intended for the passengers as well as those for the crew should be kept neat and be cleansed and disinfected three times a day.

Art. 111. The excretions and dejections of persons showing symptoms of plague or cholera shall be collected in vessels containing a disinfecting solution. These vessels shall be emptied into the latrines, which shall be thoroughly disinfected after each flushing.

Art. 112. Articles of bedding, carpets, and clothing which have been in contact with the patients mentioned in the preceding article shall be immediately disinfected. The observance of this rule is especially enjoined with regard to the clothing of persons who come near to these patients and who may have become contaminated.

Such of the articles mentioned above as have no value shall be thrown overboard, if the vessel is neither in a port nor a canal, or else destroyed by fire. The others shall be carried to the disinfecting chamber in impermeable sacks washed with a disinfecting solution.

Art. 113. The quarters occupied by the patients and referred to in article 98 shall be thoroughly disinfected.

Art. 114. Pilgrim ships shall be compelled to submit to disinfecting operations in conformity with the regulations in force on the subject in the country whose flag they fly.

Art. 115. The quantity of drinking water allowed daily to each pilgrim free of charge, whatever be his age, shall be at least 5 liters.

Art. 116. If there is any doubt about the quality of the drinking water or any possibility of its contamination either at the place of its origin or during the course of the voyage, the water shall be boiled or otherwise sterilized and the captain shall be obliged to throw it overboard at the first port in which a stop is made and in which he is able to procure a better supply.

Art. 117. The physician shall examine the pilgrims, attend the patients, and see that the rules of hygiene are observed on board. He shall especially:

  • 1. Satisfy himself that the provisions dealt out to the pilgrims are of good quality, that their quantity is in conformity with the obligations assumed, and that they are suitably prepared.
  • 2. Satisfy himself that the requirements of article 115 relative to the distribution of water are observed.
  • 3. If there is any doubt about the quality of the drinking water, remind the captain in writing of the provisions of article 116.
  • 4. Satisfy himself that the vessel is maintained in a constant state of cleanliness, and especially that the latrines are cleansed in accordance with the provisions of article 110.
  • 5. Satisfy himself that the lodgings of the pilgrims are maintained in a healthful condition, and that, in case of transmissible disease, they are disinfected in conformity with articles 113 and 114.
  • 6. Keep a diary of all the sanitary incidents occurring during the course of the voyage and present this diary to the competent authority of the port of arrival.

Art. 118. The persons intrusted with the care of the plague or cholera patients shall alone have access to them and shall have no contact with the other persons on board.

Art. 119. In case of a death occurring during the voyage, the captain shall make note of the death opposite the name on the list viséed by the authority of the port of departure, besides entering on his journal the name of the deceased person, his age, where he comes from, the presumable cause of his death according to the physician's certificate, and the date of the death.

In case of death by a transmissible disease, the body shall be wrapped in a shroud saturated with a disinfecting solution and thrown overboard.

Art. 120. The captain shall see that all the prophylactic measures executed during the voyage are recorded in the ship's journal. This journal shall be presented by him to the competent authority of the port of arrival.

In each port of call the captain shall have the list prepared in accordance with article 107 viséed by the competent authority.

In case a pilgrim is landed during the course of the voyage, the captain shall note the fact on the list opposite the name of the pilgrim.

In case of an embarkation, the persons embarked shall be mentioned on this list in conformity with the aforementioned article 107 and before it is viséed again by the competent authority.

Art. 121. The bill of health delivered at the port of departure shall not be changed during the course of the voyage.

It shall be viséed by the health authority of each port of call, who shall note thereon:

  • 1. The number of passengers landed or embarked in the port.
  • 2. The incidents occurring at sea and affecting the health or life of the persons on board.
  • 3. The sanitary condition of the port of call.

SECTION IV. MEASURES TO BE TAKEN ON THE ARRIVAL OF PILGRIMS IN THE RED SEA

A. Sanitary measures applicable to Mussulman-pilgrim ships hailing from an infected port and bound from the south toward Hedjaz

Art. 122. Pilgrim ships hailing from the south and bound for Hedjaz shall first stop at the sanitary station of Camaran, where they shall be subjected to the measures prescribed in articles 123 to 125.

Art. 123. Vessels recognized as uninfected after a medical inspection shall obtain pratique when the following operations are completed:

The pilgrims shall be landed, take a shower or sea bath, and their soiled linen and the part of their wearing apparel and baggage which appears suspicious in the opinion of the health authority shall be disinfected. The duration of these operations, including debarkation and embarkation, shall not exceed forty-eight hours.

If no real or suspected case of plague or cholera is discovered during these operations, the pilgrims shall be reembarked immediately and the vessel shall proceed toward Hedjaz.

For plague, the provisions of articles 23 and 24 shall be applied with regard to the rats which may be found on board the vessels.

Art. 124. Suspicious vessels on board of which there were cases of plague or cholera at the time of departure but on which there has been no new case of plague or cholera for seven days, shall be treated in the following manner:

The pilgrims shall be landed, take a shower or sea bath, and their soiled linen and the part of their wearing apparel and baggage which appears suspicious in the opinion of the health authority shall be disinfected.

In time of cholera the bilge water shall be changed.

The parts of the vessel occupied by the patients shall be disinfected. The duration of these operations, including debarkation and embarkation, shall not exceed forty-eight hours.

If no real or suspected case of plague or cholera is discovered during these operations, the pilgrims shall be reembarked immediately and the vessel shall proceed to Djeddah, where a second medical inspection shall take place on board. If the result thereof is favorable, and on the strength of a written affidavit by the ship's physician to the effect that there has been no case of plague or cholera during the passage, the pilgrims shall be immediately landed.

If, on the contrary, one or more real or suspected cases of plague or cholera have been discovered during the voyage or at the time of arrival, the vessel shall be sent back to Camaran, where it shall undergo anew the measures applicable to infected vessels.

For plague, the provisions of article 22, 6th par., shall be applicable with regard to the rats which may be found on board the vessels.

Art. 125. Infected vessels, that is, those having cases of plague or cholera on board or having had cases of plague or cholera within seven days, shall undergo the following treatment:

The persons stricken with plague or cholera shall be landed and isolated in groups comprising as few persons as possible, so that the whole number may not be infected by a particular group if plague or cholera should develop therein.

The soiled linen, wearing apparel, and clothing of the crew and passengers, as well as the vessel, shall be disinfected in a thorough manner.

However, the local health authority may decide that the discharge of the heavy baggage and the cargo is not necessary, and that only a part of the vessel need be disinfected.

The passengers shall remain in the Camaran establishment five days. When cases of plague or cholera date back several days, the length of the isolation may be diminished. This length may vary according to the date of appearance of the last case and the decision of the health authority.

The vessel shall then proceed to Djeddah, where an individual and rigorous medical examination shall be made. If the result thereof is favorable, the vessel shall obtain pratique. If, on the contrary, real cases of plague or cholera have appeared on board during the voyage or at the time of arrival, the vessel shall be sent back to Camaran where it shall undergo anew the treatment applicable to infected vessels.

For plague, the measures prescribed by article 22 shall be applied with regard to the rats which may be found on board the vessels.

Art. 126. Every sanitary station designed to receive pilgrims should be provided with a trained, experienced, and sufficiently numerous staff, as well as with all the buildings and apparatus necessary to insure the application, in their entirety, of the measures to which said pilgrims are subject.

B. Sanitary measures applicable to Mussulman-pilgrim ships hailing from the north and bound toward Hedjaz

Art. 127. If plague or cholera is not known to exist in the port of departure or its neighborhood, and if no case of plague or cholera has occurred during the passage, the vessel shall be immediately granted pratique.

Art. 128. If plague or cholera is known to exist in the port of departure or its vicinity, or if a case of plague or cholera has occurred during the voyage, the vessel shall be subjected at Tor to the rules established for vessels coming from the south and stopping at Camaran. The vessels shall thereupon be granted pratique.

Section V. Measures to be taken upon the return of pilgrims

A. Pilgrim ships returning northward

Art. 129. Every vessel bound for Suez or for a Mediterranean port, having on board pilgrims or similar masses of persons, and hailing from a port of Hedjaz or from any other port on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea, must repair to Tor in order to undergo there the observation and the sanitary measures indicated in articles 133 and 135.

Art. 130. Vessels bringing Mussulman pilgrims back toward the Mediterranean shall pass through the canal in quarantine only.

Art. 131. The agents of navigation companies and captains are warned that, after completing their observation period at the sanitary station of Tor, the Egyptian pilgrims will alone be permitted to leave the vessel permanently in order to return thereupon to their homes.

Only those pilgrims will be recognized as Egyptians or as residents of Egypt who are provided with a certificate of residence issued by an Egyptian authority and conforming to the established model. Samples of this certificate shall be deposited with the consular and health authorities of Djeddah and Yambo, where the agents and captains of vessels can examine them.

Pilgrims other than Egyptians, such as Turks, Russians, Persians, Tunisians, Algerians, Moroccans, etc., can not be landed in an Egyptian port after leaving Tor. Consequently, navigation agents and captains are warned that the transshipment of pilgrims not residents of Egypt at Tor, Suez, Port Said, or Alexandria is forbidden.

Vessels having pilgrims on board who belong to the nationalities mentioned in the foregoing paragraph shall be subject to the rules applicable to these pilgrims and shall not be received in any Egyptian port of the Mediterranean.

Art. 132. Before being granted pratique, Egyptian pilgrims shall undergo an observation of three days and a medical examination at Tor, Souakim, or any other station designated by the Board of Health of Egypt.

Art. 133. If plague or cholera is known to exist in Hedjaz or in the port from which the vessel hails, or if it has existed in Hedjaz during the course of the pilgrimage, the vessel shall be subjected at Tor to the rules adopted at Camaran for infected vessels.

The persons stricken with plague or cholera shall be landed and isolated in the hospitals. The other passengers shall be landed and isolated in groups composed of as few persons as possible, so that the whole number may not be infected by a particular group if the plague or cholera should develop therein.

The soiled linen, wearing apparel, and clothing of the crew and passengers, as well as the baggage and cargo suspected of contamination shall be landed and disinfected. Their disinfection as well as that of the vessel shall be thorough.

However, the local health authority may decide that the unloading of the heavy baggage and the cargo is not necessary, and that only a part of the vessel need undergo disinfection.

The measures provided in articles 22 and 25 shall be applied with regard to the rats which may be found on board.

All the pilgrims shall be subjected to an observation of seven full days from the day on which the disinfecting operations are completed, whether it be a question of plague or of cholera. If a case of plague or cholera has appeared in one section, the period of seven days shall not begin for this section until the day on which the last case was discovered.

Art. 134. In the case contemplated in the preceding article, the Egyptian pilgrims shall be subjected, besides, to an additional observation of three days.

Art. 135. If plague or cholera is not known to exist either in Hedjaz or in the port from which the vessel hails, and has not been known to exist in Hedjaz during the course of the pilgrimage, the vessel shall be subjected at Tor to the rules adopted at Camaran for uninfected vessels.

The pilgrims shall be landed and take a shower or sea bath, and their soiled linen or the part of their wearing apparel and baggage which may appear suspicious in the opinion of the health authority shall be disinfected. The duration of these operations, including the debarkation and embarkation, shall not exceed seventy-two hours.

However, a pilgrim ship belonging to one of the nations which have adhered to the stipulations of the present and the previous conventions, if it has had no plague or cholera patients during the course of the voyage from Djeddah to Yambo or Tor and if the individual medical examination made at Tor after debarkation establishes the fact that it contains no such patients, may be authorized by the Board of Health of Egypt to pass through the Suez Canal in quarantine even at night when the following four conditions are fulfilled:

  • 1. Medical attendance shall be given on board by one or several physicians commissioned by the governments to which the vessel belongs.
  • 2. The vessel shall be provided with disinfecting chambers and it shall be ascertained that the soiled linen has been disinfected during the course of the voyage.
  • 3. It shall be shown that the number of pilgrims does not exceed that authorized by the pilgrimage regulations.
  • 4. The captain shall bind himself to repair directly to a port of the country to which the vessel belongs.

The medical examination shall be made as soon as possible after debarkation at Tor.

The sanitary tax to be paid to the quarantine administration shall be the same as the pilgrims would have paid had they remained in quarantine three days.

Art. 136. A vessel which has had a suspicious case on board during the voyage from Tor to Suez shall be sent back to Tor.

Art. 137. The transshipment of pilgrims is strictly forbidden in Egyptian ports.

Art. 138. Vessels leaving Hedjaz and having on board pilgrims who are bound for a port on the African shore of the Red Sea shall be authorized to proceed directly to Souakim or to such other place as the Board of Health of Alexandria may determine, where they shall submit to the same quarantine procedure as at Tor.

Art. 139. Vessels sailing from Hedjaz or from a port on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea with a clean bill of health, having no pilgrims or similar groups of people on board, and which have had no suspicious occurrence during the voyage, shall be granted pratique at Suez after a favorable medical inspection.

Art. 140. When plague or cholera shall have been proven to exist in Hedjaz:

  • 1. Caravans composed of Egyptian pilgrims shall, before going to Egypt, undergo at Tor a rigid quarantine of seven days in case of cholera or plague. They shall then undergo an observation of three days at Tor, after which they shall not be granted pratique until a favorable medical inspection has been made and their belongings have been disinfected.
  • 2. Caravans composed of foreign pilgrims who are about to return to their homes by land routes shall be subjected to the same measures as the Egyptian caravans and shall be accompanied by sanitary guards to the edge of the desert.

Art. 141. When plague or cholera has not been observed in Hedjaz, the caravans of pilgrims coming from Hedjaz by way of Akaba or Moila shall, upon their arrival at the canal or at Nakhel, be subjected to a medical examination and their soiled linen and wearing apparel shall be disinfected.

B. Pilgrims returning southward

Art. 142. Sufficiently complete sanitary arrangements shall be installed in the ports of embarkation of Hedjaz in order to render possible the application to pilgrims who have to travel southward in order to return to their homes, of the measures which are obligatory by virtue of articles 10 and 54 at the moment of departure of these pilgrims in the ports situated beyond the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.

The application of these measures is optional; that is, they are only to be applied in those cases in which the consular officer of the country to which the pilgrim belongs, or the physician of the vessel on which he is about to embark, deems them necessary.

Chapter III. Penalties

Art. 143. Every captain convicted of not having conformed, in the distribution of water, provisions, or fuel, to the obligations assumed by him, shall be liable to a fine of two Turkish pounds.[16] This fine shall be collected for the benefit of the pilgrim who shall have been the victim of the default, and who shall prove that he has vainly demanded the execution of the agreement made.

Art. 144. Every infraction of article 101 shall be punished by a fine of thirty Turkish pounds.

Art. 145. Every captain who has committed or knowingly permitted any fraud whatever concerning the list of pilgrims or the bill of health provided for in article 107 shall be liable to a fine of fifty Turkish pounds.

Art. 146. Every captain of a vessel arriving without a bill of health from the port of departure, or without a visé from the ports of call, or who is not provided with the list required by the regulations and regularly kept in accordance with articles 107, 120, and 121, shall be liable in each case to a fine of twelve Turkish pounds.

Art. 147. Every captain convicted of having or having had on board more than 100 pilgrims without the presence of a commissioned physician in conformity with the provisions of article 100 shall be liable to a fine of thirty Turkish pounds.

Art. 148. Every captain convicted of having or having had on board a greater number of pilgrims than that which he is authorized to embark in conformity with the provisions of article 107 shall be liable to a fine of five Turkish pounds for each pilgrim in excess.

The pilgrims in excess of the regular number shall be landed at the first station at which a competent authority resides, and the captain shall be obliged to furnish the landed pilgrims with the money necessary to pursue their voyage to their destination.

Art. 149. Every captain convicted of having landed pilgrims at a place other than their destination, except with their consent or excepting cases of vis major, shall be liable to a fine of twenty Turkish pounds for each pilgrim wrongfully landed.

Art. 150. All other infractions of the provisions relative to pilgrim ships are punishable by a fine of from 10 to 100 Turkish pounds.

Art. 151. Every violation proven in the course of a voyage shall be noted on the bill of health as well as on the list of pilgrims. The competent authority shall draw up a report thereof and deliver it to the proper party.

Art. 152. All agents called upon to assist in the execution of the provisions of the present Convention with regard to pilgrim ships are liable to punishment in conformity with the laws of their respective countries in case of faults committed by them in the application of the said provisions.

Title IV. Surveillance and execution

I. Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Board of Egypt

Art. 153. The stipulations of Appendix III of the Sanitary Convention of Venice of January 30, 1892, concerning the composition, rights and duties, and operation of the Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Board of Egypt, are confirmed as they appear in the decrees of His Highness the Khedive under date of June 19, 1893,[17] and December 25, 1894,[18] as well as in the ministerial decision of June 19, 1893.[19]

The said decrees and decision are annexed to the present convention. (Appendix II.)

Art. 154. The ordinary expenses resulting from the provisions of the present convention, especially those relating to the increase of the personnel belonging to the Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Board of Egypt, shall be covered by means of an annual supplementary payment by the Egyptian Government of the sum of 4,000 Egyptian pounds, which may be taken from the surplus revenues from the lighthouse service remaining at the disposal of said Government.

However, the proceeds of a supplementary quarantine tax of ten tariff dollars per pilgrim to be collected at Tor shall be deducted from this sum.

In case the Egyptian Government should find difficulty in bearing this share of the expenses, the Powers represented in the Board of Health shall reach an understanding with the Khedival Government in order to insure the participation of the latter in the expenses contemplated.

Art. 155. The Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Board of Egypt shall undertake the task of bringing the provisions of the present convention into conformity with the regulations at present enforced by it in regard to the plague, cholera, and yellow fever, as well as with the regulations relative to arrivals from the Arabian ports of the Red Sea during the pilgrim season.

To the same end it shall, if necessary, revise the general regulations of the sanitary, maritime, and quarantine police at present in force.

These regulations, in order to become effective, must be accepted by the various Powers represented on the Board.

II. The International Health Board of Tangier

Art. 156. In the interest of public health, the High Contracting Parties agree that their representatives in Morocco shall again invite the attention of the International Health Board of Tangier to the necessity of enforcing the provisions of the sanitary conventions.

III. Miscellaneous Provisions

Art. 157. The proceeds from the sanitary taxes and fines shall in no case be employed for objects other than those within the scope of the Boards of Health.

Art. 158. The High Contracting Parties agree to have a set of instructions prepared by their health departments for the purpose of enabling captains of vessels, especially when there is no physician on board, to enforce the provisions contained in the present convention with regard to plague, cholera, and yellow fever.

Title V. Adhesions and ratifications

Art. 159. The Governments which have not signed the present convention shall be permitted to adhere thereto upon request. Notice of this adhesion shall be given through diplomatic channels to the Government of the French Republic and by the latter to the other signatory governments.

Art. 160. The present convention shall be ratified and the ratifications thereof deposited at Paris as soon as possible.

It shall be enforced as soon as it shall have been proclaimed in conformity with the legislation of the signatory nations. In the respective relations of the Powers which have ratified it, it shall supersede the international sanitary conventions signed January 30, 1892; April 15, 1893; April 3, 1894; March 19, 1897; and December 3, 1903.[20]

The previous arrangements enumerated above shall remain in force with regard to the Powers which, having signed or adhered to them, may not ratify or accede to the present act.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present convention and affixed thereto their seals.

Done at Paris on January 17, 1912, in a single copy which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Government of the French Republic, and of which certified copies shall be transmitted through diplomatic channels to the Contracting Powers.

  • [For Germany:]
    • Frhrr von Stein[seal]
    • Dr. Gaffky[seal]
  • [For the United States:]
    • A. Bailly-Blanchard[seal]
  • [For Argentina:]
    • Francisco de Veyga[seal]
    • Ezequiel Castilla[seal]
  • [For Austria-Hungary:]
    • Gagern[seal]
    • Haberler[seal]
    • Worms[seal]
    • Bölcs[seal]
    • Müller[seal]
  • For Belgium:
    • O. Velghe[seal]
    • Dr. van Ermengem[seal]
  • [For Bolivia:]
    • Ismael Montes[seal]
    • Dr. Chervin[seal]
  • [For Brazil:]
    • Dr. Figueiredo de Vasconcellos[seal]
  • [For Bulgaria:]
    • Stancioff[seal]
    • Dr. G. Chichcoff[seal]
  • [For Chile:]
    • F. Puga Borne[seal]
  • [For Colombia:]
    • J. E. Manrique[seal]
  • [For Costa Rica:]
    • Dr. A. Alvarez Cañas[seal]
  • [For Cuba:]
    • Tomás Collazo[seal]
  • [For Denmark:]
    • F. Reventlow[seal]
  • [For Ecuador:]
    • Victor M. Rendon[seal]
    • E. Dorn y de Alsua[seal]
  • [For Spain:]
    • F. de Reynoso[seal]
    • Angel Pulido[seal]
  • [For France:]
    • Camille Barrère[seal]
    • Gavarry[seal]
    • Dr. E. Roux[seal]
    • Mirman[seal]
    • Dr. A. Calmette[seal]
    • Er. Ronssin[seal]
    • Harismendy[seal]
    • Paul Roux[seal]
  • [For the United Kingdom:]
    • Lancelot D. Carnegie[seal]
    • Ralph W. Johnstone[seal]
    • Benjamin Franklin[seal]
  • [For Greece:]
    • D. Caclamanos[seal]
  • [For Guatemala:]
    • J. M. Lardizabal[seal]
  • [For Haiti:]
    • Dr. Casséus[seal]
  • [For Honduras:]
    • Désiré Pector[seal]
  • [For Italy:]
    • Rocco Santoliquido[seal]
    • Adolfo Cotta[seal]
  • [For Luxembourg:]
    • Bastin[seal]
    • Dr. Praum[seal]
  • [For Mexico:]
    • Miguel Zuñiga y Azcarate[seal]
  • [For Montenegro:]
    • Brunet[seal]
    • Dr. E. Binet[seal]
  • [For Norway:]
    • F. Wedel Jarlsberg[seal]
  • [For Panama:]
    • J. A. Jimenez[seal]
  • [For the Netherlands:]
    • Dr. W. P. Ruysch[seal]
    • Dr. C. Winkler[seal]
  • [For Persia:]
    • M. Samad[seal]
  • [For Portugal:]
    • Antonio Augusto Gonçalves Braga[seal]
  • [For Romania:]
    • Alexandre Em. Lahovary[seal]
  • [For Russia:]
    • Platon de Waxel[seal]
    • Nicolas Freyberg[seal]
  • [For El Salvador:]
    • Dr. S. Letona[seal]
  • [For Serbia:]
    • Mil. R. Vesnitch[seal]
  • [For Siam:]
    • Dr. Manaud[seal]
  • [For Sweden:]
    • Gyldenstolpe[seal]
  • [For Switzerland:]
    • Lardy[seal]
  • [For the Ottoman Empire:]
    • Missak[seal]
  • [For Egypt:]
    • Y. Saddik[seal]
  • [For Uruguay:]
    • Luis Piera[seal]


Appendixes

Appendix I

(See art. 82.)

[For text of "Regulations concerning the passage, in quarantine trains through Egyptian territory, of travelers and mail bags coming from contaminated countries," see ante, page 403.]

Appendix II

(See art. 153.)

[For text of Khedival decrees of June 19, 1893, and December 25, 1894, and ministerial decision of June 19, 1893, concerning the operation of the Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Service, see ante, pages 404, 409, and 410.]

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 The U.S. understanding contained in the Senate resolution of advice and consent to ratification, maintained in the President's ratification, and included in the procès-verbal of deposit of ratifications of Oct. 7, 1920, reads as follows: ". . . that nothing contained in article 9 [of the convention] shall be deemed to prevent the United States from carrying out any special quarantine measures against the infection of its ports which might be demanded by unusual sanitary conditions." The procès-verbal also contained the following sentence: "In making this reservation the United States Government does not intend to infringe in any way the fundamental regulations of the Convention" (translation).
  2. For complete text of procès-verbal, see 42 Stat. 1905 or TS 649, p. 101.
  3. TS 762, post, vol. 2.
  4. 7 UST 2255; TIAS 3625.
  5. TS 466, ante, p. 359.
  6. There is localization when the appearance of cases of cholera beyond the immediate environments of the first case or cases proves that the spread of the disease has not been checked where it appeared first. [Footnote in original.]
  7. For text of U.S. understanding, see footnote 1, p. 814.
  8. By "observation" is meant the isolation of the passengers, either on board a vessel or at a sanitary station, before they are granted pratique. [Footnte in original.]
  9. 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 subjeced to a medical examination to ascertain the state of their health. [Footnote in original.
  10. The term "crew" is applied to all persons who form or have formed part of the crew or of the servants on board the vessel, including stewards, waiters, "cafedji," etc. The term is to be construed in this sense wherever employed in the present Convention. [Footnote in original.]
  11. The patients shall as far as possible, be landed at Moses Spring. The other persons may undergo the observation in a sanitary station designated by the Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Board of Egypt (pilots' lazaretto). [Footnote in original.]
  12. For text, see ante, p. 405.
  13. It is desirable that each vessel be provided with the principal immunizing agents (antiplague serum, Haffkine vaccine, etc.) [Footnote in original.]
  14. The competent authority is at present: In British India, an officer designated for this purpose by the local government (Native Passenger Ships Act, 1887, Art. 7); in Dutch India, the harbormaster; in Turkey, the health authority; in Austria-Hungary, the port authority; in Italy, the harbormaster; in France, Tunis, and Spain, the health authority; in Egypt, the quarantine and health authority, etc. [Footnote in original.]
  15. Exception is made for governments which have no commissioned physicians. [Footnote in original.]
  16. The Turkish pound is worth 22 francs and 50 centimes. [Footnote in original.]
  17. Ante, p. 404.
  18. Ante, p. 409.
  19. Ante, p. 410.
  20. The United States was party only to the 1903 convention (TS 466, ante, p. 359).

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse