Madang District
pp. 165-166 · Read in the full issue
Now Under
Control
Meningitis Outbreak In Madang District
AN outbreak of meningitis re ported in the Hansa Bay area of the Madang District, New Guinea, reported in July was believed to be under control in early August.
The epidemic was first reported to Port Moresby on July 20 when it was stated that rodents were also dying in the area. This gave rise to a belief that bubonic plague had broken out, but this was disproved when a medical team of one doctor, a pathologist and a medical assistant arrived in Bogia from Madang.
Apparently the disease has been wide-spread in the area for six months; 75 persons out of a total population of 1,500 have died. In one week, late July, 27 people of a village of 150 are reported to have died. If these figures are correct it seems incredible that the disease should have been in evidence for so long without coming to official attention.
The area is isolated—but not as isolated as that. If the village head-men had been on the job, the authorities should have been aware
of the epidemic in a lot less time than six months. . Sulpha drugs are now being issued to the total population of the area and this is expected to soon stamp out the disease. tl The Royal Empire Society has awarded Tupou Le’ota Pulu, a pupil of Tonga High School, a special prize in Class B of the 1956 Empire Essay Competition.
Tupou chose as her subject an imaginary conversation between a locust, a tsetse fly and a mosquito as to which could do the most harm to man.
Mr. L. McManus and Miss I. Walker were married at the Catholic Church, Port Moresby on July 11.
Photo: Papuan Prints.
t About 100 people attended a Bon Voyage party given to Mr. and Mrs. H. Niall and their daughter, Lois, in the RSL Hall, at Lae, New Guinea, on June 7. The District Commissioner and his family will board Bulolo on June 13, and pro ceed to Australia and from there to England and the Continent.