Report on the measures adopted for the suppression of sleeping sickness in Uganda / by Sir H. Hesketh Bell ; presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of His Majesty.

  • Great Britain. Colonial Office.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report on the measures adopted for the suppression of sleeping sickness in Uganda / by Sir H. Hesketh Bell ; presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of His Majesty. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    under the degree of control wliicli has since been exercised over them, and, in many cases, the attempts of tlie Government to adopt the proper, measures were resented. Tlie people of Buvuma .declined to accept directions as to segregation, while the Baganda simply drove their sick into the bush, there to die of starvation or to be devoured by wild animals. Prnpnaah for a Segregation Cani2') in one of the Sesse Islands. 5. In May, 1902, Colonel (now Sir James) Sadler reported that over 20,000 people had died in Busoga alone, and that the disease was spreading rapidly. Towards the close of that year, it was proposed to segregate all persons suffering from sleeping sickness in one of the islands of the vSesse group, and Buvu was chosen for the purpose. Colonel Sadler, in a despatch to the Foreign Office, gave details of the jilan, and estimated that an expenditure of £1,500 would be required for buildings, and that the annual cost of the station for staff and maintenance would amount to about £5,200. He anticipated no reluctance on the part of the natives to send their sick to the island. It should be borne in mind that, when these recommendations were made, the disease was believed to be of an infectious or contagious character, and it was hoped that the segregation of those affected would prevent the spread of the epidemic. Colonel Sadler’s scheme received the approval of the Secretary of State, and preliminary arrange- ments were being made for carrying it into effect, when he was informed that the Boyal Society had offered to send out a Com- mission to enquire into, and reiwrt on, the disease. It was decided to await the arrival of the experts, and the preparations at Buvu were arrested. By the middle of 1002, the deaths from sleeping sickness numbered over 30,000, and in Busoga, Kyagwe, and the vSesse Islands the mortality was spreading with alarming rapidity. Noyal Society’s Commission. 0. Ill July, 1902, three Medical Officers, Drs. Low, Christy, and Castellani, sent by the Eoyal Society, arrived in Uganda and at once commenced their investigations. A laboratory was placed at their disjxisal in Entebbe, and every facility was afforded to them for the bacteriological study of the disease. Towards the close of the year two of these gentlemen returned to England, but the services of Dr. Castellani, who appeared to be on the track of an important discovery, were retained for a further period of six months. Discovery hy Colonel Brvce of the Agency of the Tsetse Fly. T. Through the instrumentality of the Eoyal Society, the ser- vices of Colonel (now Sir David) Bruce were also enlisted for the investigation of sleeping sickness, and he, with Mr. Aabarro us his assistant, aiTived in Uganda in February, 1903. On the 28th of April he announced that he considered the disease to be due to a kind of trypanosome conveyed by the Glossrna palpalis, a species of tsetse fly. This announcement indicated that Euro- peans could no longer consider themselves immune from infec-