Published 1 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2247
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2247

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The plague of the East (1894)

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The Chinese readily ascribe the outbreak of plague to the absence of rain causing an impure water supply and a more than usually insanitary condition of houses and drains. The heavy rains that fell in May and June tended in nowise to lessen the prevalence of the disease when it was fully established. This may be partly explained by the fact that for the season of the year the temperature was abnormally low, whereas a high temperature seems antagonistic to the pestilence. Again, during wet weather Chinese are confined to their houses, and so more within the area of contagion.

In Yunnan, according to Mr. Rocher, pigs, goats, rats, and other animals die in great numbers before man is affected. In Canton rats were the only animals observed to suffer; an exceptional mortality was observed amongst them two or three weeks before cases of plague were noted, and this sequence . . . [Full text of this article]

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The Plague in the East
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