A: Herd immunity, B: Money award for catching mouse, C: Encourage people to keep cats
The answer is…B and C!
Cat can be mouse catcher and spokesman of the shop today in Hong Kong
Frank the tour guide is going to share the history of bubonic plague in colonial Hong Kong in this blog post.
Frank is eager to share his stories and Hong Kong history during his private car tour with clients.
Colonial government’s mouse catching and other measures to curb the spread of bubonic plague
The first big bubonic plague outbreak happened in 1894 at Tai Ping Shan Area in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island.
Cartoon mouse on Hong Kong Government Rodent control poster
Hong Kong had about 200,000 people at that time and more than 2,500 people died due to the plague (98% was Chinese).
Colonial government tried to wipe out the dirty mouse to curb the spread.
It offered money awards to people who could catch the mouse.
Clever people thus imported the mouse from outside to exchange the prize money.
So this measure was not as successful as other tried emergency measures, i.e. compulsory quarantine, comprehensive cleaning and demolishing the epic-center Tai Ping Shan Area (see the photo below).
由 原上傳者為<a href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/zh:” class=”extiw” title=”w:zh:”>中文維基百科</a>的<a href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/zh:User:Matthew_hk” class=”extiw” title=”w:zh:User:Matthew hk”>Matthew hk</a> – Transferred from <span class=”plainlinks”><a class=”external text” href=”https://zh.wikipedia.org”>zh.wikipedia</a></span> to Commons by <a href=”//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Shizhao” title=”User:Shizhao”>Shizhao</a> using <a href=”https://iw.toolforge.org/commonshelper/” class=”extiw” title=”toollabs:commonshelper/”>CommonsHelper</a>., 公有領域, 連結
由 无法识别作者。根据版权声明推断作者为<a href=”//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:BlakeGD312&action=edit&redlink=1″ class=”new” title=”User:BlakeGD312 (page does not exist)”>BlakeGD312</a>。 – 无法识别来源。根据版权声明推断为其自己的作品。, CC BY-SA 2.5, 連結
Due to the ever-increasing population and housing shortages, government’s new regulations on public hygiene and housing could only solve Hong Kong’s sanitation and people’s living conditions gradually.
The epic center of bubonic plague in 1894 was demolished and rebuilt as the Blake Garden.
The plague continued to impact Hong Kong.
In 1908, Hong Kong Sanitation Board thus urged people to keep cats to catch mouse at homes, shops and warehouses.
Can this pet cat catch the mouse?
The above-mentioned measures show British colonial government did not adopt herd immunity to handle the plague.
Actually the 1894 bubonic plague brought Hong Kong to a standstill.
Colonial government did want to curb the plague as quick as possible by the effective measures and earn money from the chicken that laid golden eggs again!
Hong Kong Museum of Medical Science near the Blake Garden was the Old Pathological Institute for handling the plague.
Herd immunity might cause a lot of deaths and there was no end in sight to the plague.
Heritage building Hong Kong Museum of Medical Science is now surrounded by the tall buildings
Government should take quick, firm and effective actions to save people’s lives, curb the spread of plague and reset the economic activities.
Frank wants to share interesting history with clients during his private car tour
Frank the tour guide does hope that the Covid-19 pandemic can be curbed as soon as possible.
Frank is eager to share Hong Kong history and his own stories with clients during the private car tour.
Hope can serve you in Hong Kong after pandemic!
See amazing view of Victoria Harbor at Victoria Peak during our half day private car tour.
Visit beautiful Nan Lian Garden during Hong Kong Kowloon full day private car tour.
Visit the World heritage building, St Paul’s Ruins, during our full day Macau private car tour.
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