| Abstract: | Summary Although cholera was never endemic in Ceylon, the country was subject to frequent (and in many instances explosive) cholera epidemics, due to its many contacts with the Indian sub-continent, the source where the disease was endemic. The frequency of epidemics was caused by the heavy movement of Indian labour working on the plantations of Ceylon between the two countries. This study charts the course of cholera in Ceylon beginning in the nineteenth century and seeks to identify the causes which led to its decline. Although there has always been doubt regarding the efficacy of quarantine in controlling cholera, its history in Ceylon indicates that whatever the drawbacks, quarantine was one of the major factors leading to the decline of this disease in the country. In addition, one of the essential elements in the battle against cholera in Ceylon was the development of a public health department which had the capacity to restrict the spread of an epidemic. This was done by the timely enforcement of various public health measures when the disease escaped the quarantine net. This survey also indicates that in the case of Ceylon, medical treatment and hospitalization was of no significance in controlling the number of deaths among those who contracted cholera, since all the great cholera epidemics occurred before treatment by intravenous re-hydration was introduced. |
