H.—3l

48

Mount Eden, with 12 cases, heads the list of the suburban districts. The mortality within the city and suburbs was .'i cases. In the country, Bay of Islands Hospital District, with 57 cases, shows a very serious increase, as only 8 cases were reported there in the previous year. This high return was chiefly due to epidemics among the Natives, I t cases having occurred in Bay of Islands County during March, and IS cases in Whangaroa in July and August—an unusual time for such outbreaks. Thames Hospital District, with 96 cases, half as many again as during the previous year, is another example of the influence of Native population on typhoid incidence rate. About 80 per cent, of these cases were Maoris, and chiefly in the Paeroa and Piako districts. They occurred chiefly in the first four months of the year, and were doubtless a result of the unusually dry summer. In the settlements along the Ohinemuri River practically all the Natives contracted the disease. Bay of Plenty and Waikato districts also suffered more severely than usual, the high rate in the former lx-ing due to Native outbreak at Taurang-a during winter. Out of the total of 112 cases some 230 are notified as being Maoris. It is probable lliat our more elaborate system of sanitary inspection and the work of the Native sanitary-service nurses bring to light a number of cases which formerly were not heard of. There does not seem to be any reason to believe that the Natives are any more susceptible to the disease than in the past. In almost every case these outbreaks could Ix , attributed to the drinking of water from polluted sources, rl k> usual supplies, tanks and so forth, having become exhausted during the drought. It is noticeable that Rotorua County escaped without a single case, despite the large Native population. I attribute this chiefly to the excellent work of the nurses among the Maori settlements. The accompanying chart and table show the relation of temperature, rainfall, and typhoid so far as Auckland and the suburban boroughs and road districts are concerned.

Typhoid Fever. Auckland and Suburban Boroughs and Road Districts. Typhoid, Temperature, and Rainfall curves.

The thin thphoid line exhibits the average monthly cases during five years 1908-12.