Peste Bubónica em Cantão
This 1894 diplomatic dispatch, issued by Demetius Cinatti, Portuguese Consul in Canton, documents an outbreak of bubonic plague in two native districts of Canton (Guangzhou) during April 1894. Addressed to the Portuguese Minister and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the report summarises medi...
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| Format: | Documents |
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| Language: | pt-PT |
| Published: |
Abril-maio, 1895
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| Subjects: |
American Mission Hospital
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Buboes
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Bubonic plague
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Canton Conference (1667-1668)
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Clinical Symptoms
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Colonial Era Epidemiology
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Demetius Cinatti
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Diplomatic Dispatch
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Dr. Alexander Rennie
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Dr. Swan
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Epidemiological Observations
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Groin Axillae Neck
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Guangzhou
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Imperial Maritime Customs
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Impoverished Neighborhoods
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Indoor Domestic Lifestyle
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Local Vs Foreign Accounts
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Medical Assessments
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Miasmatic Influences
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Mortality Gender Disparity
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Plague Outbreak Report
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Portuguese consul
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Public Health Risk Perception
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Reporting Discrepancies
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Unsanitary Conditions
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Documents
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| Online Access: | https://macau-legacy.usj.edu.mo/docs/4SLDUQ84/viewer_4SLDUQ84.html |
| Summary: | This 1894 diplomatic dispatch, issued by Demetius Cinatti, Portuguese Consul in Canton, documents an outbreak of bubonic plague in two native districts of Canton (Guangzhou) during April 1894. Addressed to the Portuguese Minister and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the report summarises medical observations from Dr. Alexander Rennie, physician to the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, and Dr. Swan, director of the American Mission Hospital, both of whom assessed the epidemiological situation as locally contained and not alarmingly contagious. The document details clinical symptoms—including violent fevers, gangrenous inflammations, and buboes in the groin, axillae, or neck—and notes higher mortality among women and children, attributed to their indoor domestic lifestyle. While Chinese sources reported up to 200 cases by 24 April, European medical observers regarded these figures as exaggerated, citing poor reporting and conflation of all deaths with plague. The outbreak was associated with unsanitary conditions and seasonal miasmatic influences, particularly in impoverished peripheral neighbourhoods. An unconfirmed resurgence was reported in a suburban district across the river on 28 April, but on-site inspection by the Consul and medical personnel failed to verify its extent. Two additional cases were admitted to the American Mission Hospital, though both were moribund upon arrival. The report highlights discrepancies between local accounts and Western medical assessments, and underscores the perceived decline of the disease by late April. This primary source offers critical insights into colonial-era public health perceptions, cross-cultural medical interpretation, and epidemic response in late Qing China. 8 |
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