Cholera!?

Between 1896 and 1945, i.e., during the Japanese colonial rule, Danshui was hit with several epidemics. According to Danshui Town history:

Sep, 1896: Black death, prompting the quarantine of ships docked in Danshui Harbor
Oct, 1896: Founding of 滬尾傳染病隔離所(Hobe Quarantine Hospital for Contagious Diseases) which came in handy when on Oct 12, 1896, a black death epidemic broke out and 127 died
Jan 15, 1925: cases of small pox were found among other diseases

[The quarantine hospital in Danshui]

Rat-mediated black death was the scourge of Danshui, in large owing to junks arriving from Foochow that carried infested rats. A number of preventive measures were taken. For example, cone-shaped iron collars were fit onto the anchor lines to prevent rats from jumping ship. And the Town Office offered cash rewards for each domestic [as opposed to field/wild] rat caught and turned in, plus a lottery ticket with the grand cash prize drawn every 6 months. This popular practice continued until 1937 when the disease was deemed under total control. However, in 1946, with junks started arriving from China again, another black death threat commenced but which was quickly squelched by local physicians trained in western medicine.

Curiously, Danshui seemed to have escaped the great cholera epidemic of 1919 which engulfed the Greater Taipei area. Some 1,633 persons had been infected with the disease and 1,358 died. On July 8, 12 cholera cases were first discovered in the Pescadores. And around the same time, a Japanese businessman 木津丑之助 arrived from Foochow via the ship 湖北丸 in Keelung and became ill. It was confirmed 3 days later that he had contracted cholera. By then, the disease had already spread to Shih-lin, Keelung, and 大稻埕Da-daw-chen (the now Da-tung District).

The Colonial Gov't immediately instituted the following:

(1) all ships from Foochow and Swatow arriving in Keelung and Takao would be quarantined;
(2) starting on July 29, all patients and suspicious cases would be isolated and the dead buried 6 feet underground;
(3) a disinfection unit based in the Danshui Theater in Da-daw-chen organized and set in action;
(4) intense public hygiene education started; and
(5) mandatory public inoculation reinforced by 67 inspectors and 184 policemen.

[An disease inspection station in Shih-lin]

The epidemic mercifully ended on Nov 4 when the last case was released from isolation.

Forced inoculation was necessary because of public resistance to the "modern" disease management which was met with skepticism. Also, many who looked sick or even simply were unhappy in appearance, and some who were merely sound asleep were mistakenly rounded up and forced into isolation wards, and their family and relatives all quarantined. These had generated enormous animosity among the citizens. Plus, the survival rate of the "modern" treatment was only one in ten (10%); whereas of those who escaped to the countryside and were treated by traditional medicine, 8 to 9 in 10 had survived. The 漢醫Han-doctors in fact had been taking great care of the Taiwanese for centuries and they did know how to manage cholera, among other diseases - for cholera, it was paying especial attention to re-hydration and ionic re-balance. The skepticism relative to the inoculation was also justified as cholera vaccines were (still are) only 25-50% effective and the quality of the vaccine doses in 1919 was also questionable.

Danshui, in contrast, had come out of the cholera epidemic unscathed. Ironically, it was because the Japanese Colonial Gov't had chosen to ignore Danshui and developed Keelung Port instead. As a result, few foreign ships came to call on Danshui.

[A junk from Foochow, in isolation in Danshui Harbor]

Historically, however, Danshui's Customs Office had long maintained a Quarantine Office. Plus, the requirement that ships from China with sick passengers/sailors anchor off shore, in the middle of Danshui River certainly had been a sound policy even before the Japanese era. These precautions plus the vast improvement in town sanitation during the Japanese rule had made Danshui a relatively safe place to live.