﻿rx, B, 2 Sanitary Survey in Mindoro 157 



least within some years, securing such ideal mosquito-free con- 

 ditions throughout the company's settlements as is contemplated. 

 I consider this attainment improbable, in spite of the present 

 dry-season indications and the admitted extreme scarcity of 

 mosquitoes at San Jose. The rainy-season test has yet to be 

 applied. Pending the results of this test, I confess that I am 

 unconvinced of the absolute and permanent eradication of an- 

 ophelines at San Jose. 



Another reason is the impracticability of actually controlling 

 the laborers and others, who visit infected barrios, during their 

 absence from the estate and upon their return. 



With an abundance of malaria carriers resident at San Jose — 

 hundreds in fact — and a few anophelines to act as vectors, there 

 is every reason to expect the disease to continue indefinitely at 

 the sugar estates unless more active therapeutic measures be 

 instituted. 



In 1911,^ antimalarial recommendations were made for a 

 drainage system that would entirely exclude mosquito life; for 

 the leveling, grading, and drainage of the town site; and for 

 the clearing of vegetation from the banks of the Magbando 

 River and for clearing its channel and straightening its course. 



These recommendations have been carried out so thoroughly 

 that to-day the Magbando River at San Jose is an open, un- 

 obstructed waterway with banks practically denuded and offering 

 absolutely no opportunity to the mosquito seeking a breeding 

 place. The elaborate drainage system already installed and now 

 undergoing construction, with cement gutters and drains and 

 with straight deep ditch sides and proper grades, are indications 

 of great effort and expenditure. The buildings are arranged 

 symmetrically and in order in well-policed streets. All of these 

 things speak in praise of the energy of the company's surgeon, 

 the company's engineers, and the management which has supplied 

 the large sums of money required. Mosquitoes at the time of 

 our visit in January, 1913, were extremely hard to find. Yet 

 malaria continues to exact a terrible toll in life and health. 



Granting that some malaria is constantly introduced from the 

 infected village of Mangarin, I am still unable to rid myself 

 of the impression that the great majority of the fever cases 

 occurring at San Jose are in "repeaters." The medical officers 

 of the company stated to me that a very high percentage of the 

 cases were recurrences. From inquiry, observation, and ex- 

 perience I know that the average length of time spent by malaria 



'Annual Rep. P. I. Bur. Hlth. (1911), 48. 



