‘Administration Report on the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Maskat Political Agency for 1899/1900’ [‎279r] (31/150)

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RESIDENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. AND MASKAT POLITICAL AGENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. P OR THE YEAR IS 99 . 18 oo.
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This epidemic, like its two predecesso^waT^ITTTT^T ---
Epidemic theMekra^''l' 0 haTe ^SinaTed"^
there with great severity for nearly two month, Tt t ? m ay and to have ra ged
the month of August, when great apprehensions It t ' lencc , 1 " tr ^™ed into Gwadurin
ing to Maskat, the local authorities were rLeateX . fe| t "f the disease extend-
keepiug it out. But the local anthorities failed to . I ^ringent measures for
fore, no wonder that in the absence of even the oJ?; UP • 6 daI W au d it was, there-
broke out in the neighbouring sea-port town of Mnt™?rT" 11 ™ 8 ; 38 antiei P a t<«i ) the disease
no precise date or mode of inrportation can be Led unon i m0U f th f Although
disease had been in existence for some davs m-f may y 1)6 c0 "< ,lu Jed that the
came casually to my notice. ' J perhaps, some weeks before its presence
In a place like Maskat, where therp i'o *
tion regarding- the health of the population tLTrt f. nan - e ™ ent for obtaining informa-
and history of an epidemic disease as mav ba J 'i lffi . cu } ties in tlie way of tracing the origin
is added the persistent hostile attitude of the e ,? n ' ]eetlI1 ' edj . are & rea ^ but when to them
subject, the task becomes a hopeless one The fS of J 6 ' 111 t0 any 0,1
the Jabru suburb of Matrah, which is m^stlv inS? 1 1! t?** . havin g broken out in
imported by some Baluchi passengers from C wJ bv Mckranis, points to its having been
small sailing craft arrived from either of the nlaop^ fi"" 0r an . a,:,0ut that time no
gers arrived here by one of the mail steamers This ^ 18 thafc th ose passen-
ably supported by the fact that all quarantine'arr^m aSftUfn P tl0n would appear to be consider-
the 15th July to the 16th August so that thpiinQ * ' me,lts . vv . ei " e suspended in Maskat from
not undergo even the formaTb^ Period did
circumstances. The fact also that the epidemic (Wl W H ^ ^ ould llave done lmd er other
the original focus of infection withoutTxcit^^^^ insidiously even in
support to it. In fact even after the existenpp nf ,• ,. s P 1cl0n 01 flawing attention to it lends
attacks were so few at first that I am of opinion that 8 the 6 tTsf a well ' reco p lse(i thio ^ the
prior to any suspicion of its presence. ' Case cIlolera occurred long
Barring- the fact that the hot and dry winds which usually prevail during the months of
Meteorological and other conditions preceding June and Jul y wer e protracted and nnusallv severe
tbeo,,tbreak - t, 1 '" 6 nothing abnormal in the condition of
t * • ,, ... the atmosphere.
During the period immediately preceding the epidemic, namely, the month of Auo-ust and
early part of September, the weather, as usual at that time of the ykr, was damp in fonse-
quence o a s long south-west monsoon wind, charged with moisture, and although people here
condition 6 of fhe eX , peneilCe f the ^emic of 1865, to have an impression"that a humid
condition of the atraospliere such as exists during the prevalence of the south-west
monsoon favours the spreading of the disease, there was no peculiar atmospheric condilion
during the lecent epidemic, to favour or retard its progress. Nor was there any abnor
mal circumstance noticeable in connexion with the soil of the place.
^ ^ 0WeVe ^ a /i )t0ri 5 U i S fact thatthe sanitar ^ con( lition of Maskat and Matrah had
atwTpd'lf ^ k and J hea P s ot ' rubblsh and putrefying organic matters not unfrequentlv
attracted attention both mside the towns and in the suburbs. But this was by no
unusual circumstance for the place as it had been in existence for years, nor do I
UGll©! uiltlu tlltn DV ifiSfilf" fllnTIP P!3."n r»Vir*l • e4-ill 4 ^ ^ J —1 j ! j ii
means an
hold the
-7 \n i 1 exisience ror years, nor do 1 hold the
k n ^ . "7 a ^ one can cause cholera ; still there is no denying that these dunc-
mlls and insanitary centres had a powerful influence as a predisposing cause on its propaga
tion; wliat share they took in it may be judged by the fact that the greatest incidence "of
attacks occurred in localities quite close to them. What I wrote in 1876 in myMedical
topography of Maskat has in this respect come to be true
. ' Maskat has undoubtedly been entirely free from the disease (cholera) since then (1865) ;
but the sanitation being so very defective, some of the predisposing causes are always in exist
ence, and the introduction of the specific poison will excite an epidemic of great virulence and
severity."
The first case that made me suspect the probability of the appearance of cholera in Matrah
The first cases that came to my notice. Was that of a Sunnee Persian boy named Abdur
.... Kahman bin Muhammad, about 12 years of age,
living in the Mazi Meya quarter of the town, who was reported to me as having died suddenly
on the 19th of September. An inquiry into the cause of his death elicited the fact of his having
suffered from vomiting and purging two days previously and of his having been in bad health
since then j he was found to be unconscious and to have passed a large watery motion just
before his death. This was followed in a few days by the news of the death of a Shia Persian
girl, named Mannee, about 13 years of age, living in Jabru, one of the suburbs of Matrah, on
the 28rd, from choleraic symptoms, and on inquiry it was ascertained that her young brother,
about nine years of age, living in the same house, had suffered from similar symptoms two
days previously and had recovered. Some more cases then came to my notice as having
occurred within the next few days in the suburb of Jabru. The disease would thus appear to
have originated in Jabru to whicti it was at first principally confined, particularly as there seems
no difficulty in tracing connexion between the first case, namely, that of the boy Abdur
Jaahman, and that suburb, provided the possibility of his having visited that locality or of bis
having drunk water from a probably infected source of supply there be kept in view. Besides