medicalstaff

Maryborough outbreak of Primary Pneumonic Plague (May-June, 1905)

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  Black Death in Maryborough 1905 Pneumonic Plague An outbreak of pneumonic plague occurred in Maryborough in 1905. Maryborough at that time was Queensland’s largest port – a thriving hub for wool, meat, timber and other rural products. Had it not have been the dedication of the two nurses who willingly sacrificed their own lives the outbreak could have had catastrophic consequences. Only eight people were to die, yet had the disease spread it could have caused an epidemic of massive proportions which may have killed tens of thousands across Australia. Those eight people included five neglected children all from one family, a neighbour who assisted the family by laying out the corpse of the first victim, and two nurses. Source: fclibrarieslocalstudies.blogspot.com/2011/08/black-death-...

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  Dr. Burnett Ham Appointed Queensland's first commissioner of public health from January 1901, Ham tackled the problems of bubonic plague, food adulteration, sanitation and infectious diseases. His Report on Plague in Queensland, 1900-07, (Brisbane, 1907) received worldwide recognition. At a time when the role of fleas in transmitting plague to humans was being evaluated, he made several vital observations on the survival of the insects after leaving their host rat and their increased activity with suitable environmental conditions. In the area of food adulteration, his initiatives led to Queensland's being the first Australian State to draw up food standards laws; he also called for uniformity in food standards throughout Australia. Ham introduced compulsory notification of diseases, including tuberculosis and hookworm. He was, as well, founding president of the Queensland branch of the Life Saving Society of London (Royal Life Saving Society) in 1905. Source: adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ham-nathaniel-burnett-bertie-12959