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XVII. Experiments in plague houses in Bombay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

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1. In 19 out of 100 experiments guinea-pigs allowed to run free in houses which were presumably plague infected developed the disease and died.

2. On three occasions, namely, on every occasion on which the experiment was made, fleas transferred from plague-infected rats found in houses infected fresh guinea-pigs in the laboratory.

3. Rat fleas, caught on guinea-pigs in plague houses and transferred to fresh guinea-pigs, transmitted the disease in 35% of the cases.

4. A census of rat fleas in houses in Bombay, which were proved plague infected, indicated that rat fleas were 12 times as numerous as in control houses; and that in presumably infected houses rat fleas were four times as numerous as in control houses.

5. In 41 out of 130 fleas taken on guinea-pigs in plague-infected houses, bacilli microscopically indistinguishable from plague were found in the stomach.

6. In the case of 24 of the 27 houses definitely proved to be plague infected, dead rats had been found shortly before the experiments were made.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1907