12 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



How Cuba Guards Against Yellow Fever. 



Dr. J. Harvey Dillon, president of the 

 Louisiana State Board of Health, with 

 Dr. Hamilton P. Jones, State Chemist, 

 and an acknowledged expert on yellow 

 fever, recently returned from a sanitary 

 inspection of Cuba. 



The trip was undertaken, says the New 

 Orleans Picayune, because of the repeat- 

 ed rumors of yellow fever in the island 

 and that a Cuban physician had written 

 a series of postal cards to the president 

 of the Louisiana State Board of Health, 

 to the New Orleans Board and to the 

 newspapers, stating that there was yel- 

 low fever in the island. Among the first 

 things the doctors did on their arrival in 

 Havana was to call upon the signer of 

 the postal cards. Dr. Fernandez de 

 Ybarra. "We found," said Dr. Dillon, 

 "that he had formerly held office in the 

 Health Service and was disgruntled, and 

 our subsequent investigations convinced 

 us that his statements were not based 

 upon accurate information." 



After quietly making investigations 

 themselves Dr. Dillon found "everything 

 in very fine shape and Havana the clean- 

 est city I ever saw in my life." The doc- 

 tors visited every town in which a sus- 

 picious case of yellow fever had been re- 

 ported in the last three months and 

 found excellent sanitary conditions every- 

 where. 



"A case could not be hid in all Cviba," said 

 Dr. Dillon, "for with two political parties and 

 the outs keenly alert to find anything detrimental 

 against the ins, there could hardly be any yellow 

 fever in Cuba without its being known to the 

 world, and then there are Marine Hospital sur- 

 geons constantly traveling over the island." 



Dr. Jones gives an interesting account 

 of the keen supervision of the Cuban 

 hospital authorities over all communic- 

 able diseases. He said: 



"The hospitals are all equipped with screened 

 wards, and are visited every day by inspectors of 

 the Sanitary Department. All cases of fever not 

 plainly diagnosed, or not diagnosed within twenty- 

 four hours, are placed in these screened wards 

 and shown to the inspectors of the National 

 Sanitary Department, and if they are at all 

 suspicious a yellow fever commission, composed 

 of Dr. Guiterez, Dr. Agramonte, Dr. Bango, Dr. 

 Carlos Finley, Dr. Albertini and Dr. Martinez, 

 makes a careful examination every day until it 

 is determined whether the case is yellow fever 

 or not. 



"The same supervision is practiced over private 

 cases. It is made compulsory to report to the 

 Department all cases of fever of a doubtful na- 

 ture and all cases of any character that cannot 

 be diagnosed in twenty-four hours. Failure to 

 report such cases subjects the attending phy- 

 sician or the hospital to a fine of $50, imposed 



directly by the Sanitary Department without the 

 intervention of a court of trial. Subsequent vio- 

 lations lead to severer penalties. 



"But the thing that strikes everyone is the 

 pronounced and absolute cleanliness of every 

 city and town, and the evidence is there that the 

 Government and people of Cuba are trying to 

 do the right thing. That portion of the Piatt 

 amendment which provides for intervention by the 

 United States if the island should become a 

 menace to the health of the world is by itself a 

 strong incentive for the maintenance of sanitary 

 conditions.." 



For the purpose of eliminating the 

 slightest possibility of fever again being 

 imported into New Orleans from Havana 

 or any other point on the Isle of Cuba, 

 the Louisiana State Board of Health 

 on May 19 decided to appoint a medical 

 inspector, who will be required to make 

 his home in Cuba and send in weekly 

 reports. 



Further Precautions Against Disease. 



On May 28 it was stated that President 

 Gomez had appointed a special commis- 

 sion for the diagnosis of infectious dis- 

 eases, with headquarters in Havana. 



The commission is made up of some 

 of the most eminent experts on tropical 

 diseases and sanitary specialists in the 

 world, headed by Dr. Aristides Agra- 

 monte, who is well known in New York. 

 Eniilio Martinez, A. Albertini, M. Rango, 

 Carlos Finlay and Juan Guiteras. They 

 will keep a sharp lookout for all sus- 

 picious cases and immediately conduct 

 a minute examination, isolating the case 

 and keeping it under surveillance. 



Four $4,800 Mercedes automobiles will 

 be purchased by the Cuban government, 

 one for the President's use, another for 

 the Secretary of the Interior, another 

 for the commander of the Cuban army 

 and the fourth for the Director-General 

 of Posts and Telegraphs. 



Charges were made May 6 of fraudulent 

 dealings in the army pay office amounting 

 to more than $3,000,000. the New York 

 Herald says. Several vouchers, dating from 

 some months back, are said to lack the 

 proper legalization and entering. Several 

 arrests were made on May 25. 



Secretary of Sanitation and Charities Ma- 

 tras Duque is sending boys and girls from 

 the State Orphan Asylums out into the 

 country to responsible and worthy farmers 

 and business people to be taught useful oc- 

 cupations. The saving thus effected to the 

 State will be employed in a campaign 

 against tuberculosis. 



