Army manual of hygiene and sanitation, 1934 / [War Office].

Date:
1941
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Army manual of hygiene and sanitation, 1934 / [War Office]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    46/310 (page 48)
    by water are the bacterial diseases, typhoid fever, para- typhoid fevers, cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea; also the worm diseases, schistosomiasis and ankylostomiasis. The germs of | the bacterial diseases are passed out in the feeces or urine and may be deposited direct in water or reach it by soakage from drains or latrines or by other means. This polluted water must not be used for drinking nor for washing eating and drinking utensils. The germs of the bacterial diseases can live for some time in water, while part of the development of the parasites causing the worm diseases mentioned takes place in water before man is infected. Water supplies contained in tanks, tins, etc., may be con- taminated by dust and the containers should therefore always be provided with well-fitting lids. The lack of a sufficient supply of safe drinking water may cause serious outbreaks of disease. Only those who have suffered know the agony of - thirst. Thirsty men will do anything in their power to obtain water, with the result that they may drink grossly contamin- ated water unless forcibly restrained. Strict water discipline, the policing of sources of water and the provision of an ample supply of safe water are therefore necessary for the prevention of water-borne diseases.