THE WORK OF HEALTH OFFICERS, 
AND OF LOCAL BOARDS OF HEALTH IN MICHIGAN. 
[A sufficient number of copies of this circular, stating duties of the health officer, are sent to 
enable him to give one copy to each member of the local board of health; and this he is respect- 
fully requested to do, in order that the local board, which controls his action and fixes his com- 
pensation, may have the benefit of its suggestions as to the importance, nature, value, and extent 
of his duties, and of its own powers and duties.] 
[55.] 
———• Office of the Secretary of the State Board of Health, ) 
Lansing, Michigan, April, 1882. J 
To the Health Officer: 
Sir:—Inquiries are frequently received at this office for statements of the 
duties of the health officer as a sanitary adviser and executive officer of the 
local board of health. In response to these inquiries this circular is issued. 
There is a board of health in every township, city, and village in Michigan ;* 
and the appointment of a health officer is required of every local board of 
health in the State by section 1G93 of the compiled laws of 1871, as amended 
by Act No. 202, Laws of 1881, which amended section is as follows: 
(1693.) Sec. 2. Every board of health shall appoint and constantly have a health officer who shall 
be a well-educated physician and act as the sanitary adviser, and an executive officer of the board: 
Provided, That in townships where it is not practicable to secure the services of a well-educated 
and suitable physician, the board may appoint the supervisor or some other person as such health 
officer. The board of health shall establish his salary or other compensation, and shall regulate 
and audit all fees and charges of persons employed by them in the execution of the health laws, 
and of their own regulations. Within thirty days after the annual township meeting in each year, 
the board of health shall meet for the transaction of business, and shall appoint or re-appoint 
a health officer, and shall immediately cause to be transmitted to the Secretary of the State Board 
of Health at Lansing, the full name and postoffice address of such health officer, and a statement 
whether he is a physician, the supervisor, or some other person not a physician. A special meet- 
ing of the board may be called by the order of the President or of any two members of said board. 
* Township boards of health are organized under section 1692, compiled laws of 1871, as amended 
by Act No. 56, Laws of 1877, which section as amended is as follows: 
(1692.) Sectiox 1. In every township the township board shall be the board of health. The 
supervisor shall be the president, and the township clerk shall be the clerk of said board. The 
clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board in a book to be provided for that purpose 
at the expense of the township. 
The mayor and aldermen of every city, or the president and council of every incorporated village, 
in which no board of health is actually organized under the charter, are by section 1740 of the com- 
piled laws of 1871*, as amended in 1879, granted all the powersand required to perform all the duties 
of a board of health. Tl)e amended section 1740 is printed on the following page. 2 
WORK OF HEALTH OFFICERS AND OF LOCAL BOARDS. 
If no health officer is appointed in a township “ within thirty days after the 
annual township meeting,” it will still be necessary to appoint or re-appoint one 
after that time, as in the case of a vacancy; as will also be necessary if the 
officer appointed does not “'qualify,” or file his oath of office. Vacancies oc- 
cur whenever the incumbent of an office ceases to be an inhabitant of the dis- 
trict, county, township, city, or village for which lie was elected or appointed 
an officer,—see section 617, compiled laws of Michigan, 1871. 
Before entering upon his duties the health officer should take and subscribe 
the official oath required by Sec. 1, Art. xviii., of the Constitution of this State, 
and file the same in the office of the clerk of the city, village, or township of 
which he is the health officer. 
Some of the powers and duties of local boards of health are specified in Chap- 
ter 46 of the compiled laws of Michigan, 1871. This chapter was constructed 
more particularly with reference to township boards of health, but section 49 of 
the same chapter (chapter 35 of the Revised Statutes of 3 846, and chapter 46 
of the compiled laws of 1871) as amended by Act No. 145, Laws of 3879, makes 
it apply to cities and villages. That section as amended is as follows:— 
Board of health 
in cities and vil- 
lages, who to 
constitute. 
(1740.) Sec. 49. The mayor and aldermen of each incorporated city, and the presi- 
dent and council, or trustees of each incorporated village in this State, in which no 
board of health is organized under its charter, shall have and exercise all the 
powers and perform all the duties of a board of health as provided in this chap- 
ter, within the limits of the cities or villages, respectively, of which they are such 
officers. The provisions of this chapter, and the amendments thereto, shall, as far as 
applicable, apply to all cities and villages in this State, and all duties which are, by 
the provisions of this chapter, to be performed by the board of health of townships, 
or by the officers and inhabitants thereof, shall in like manner be performed by the 
board of health and the officers and inhabitants of such cities and villages, with a 
like penalty for the non-performance of such duties, excepting in cases where the 
charters of such cities and villages contain provisions inconsistent herewith. 
Duties of officers 
and inhabitants 
of cities and vil- 
lages. 
It is believed that there is nothing in the charter of any city or village in the 
State that conflicts with the general law which requires the appointment of a 
health officer by the council acting as a board of health, or by a board of 
health constituted under some charter provision. 
One great object in securing a physician as health officer is to enable each 
local board of health to lead and not, as too frequently heretofore, to follow 
the people in sanitary knowledge and action. As a rule our physicians are our 
leading sanitarians, and they know much better than other people what are the 
sources of danger to the public health in their several localities; and, as a rule, 
they know best how to avoid those dangers. It is therefore for the interest of 
the people to secure the benefits of that knowledge by paying for the services 
and advice of the best sanitarian, who will usually be the best physician in 
their locality. 
If it is true that responsibilities are in proportion to capacities and powers, 
then a local board of health, which, as in this State, has almost absolute power, 
must be held responsible for any sickness or death that might have been pre- 
vented by a proper use of its legal powers; and an individual health officer 
employed and paid for sanitary advice who does not use the sanitary knowledge 
of which he is possessed, in a way to make it as effective as possible for pre- 
venting sickness and deaths in his vicinity, is especially culpable. 
Although as “an executive officer of the board” your power and authority 
to act will be only that given you by your board, as a “sanitary adviser” you 
should, and doubtless will, have influence in determining the action of your HEALTH OFFICER’S PAY SHOULD BE ADEQUATE AND CERTAIN. 
3 
board, in proportion to your knowledge of sanitary science and your honest 
effort for the promotion of the public health. 
The health officer should be a physician who has given and will give special 
study to sanitary subjects, and who is qualified to instruct and advise the local 
board of health in all matters relating to public health which may come before 
it. The law provides that he shall be a sanitary adviser of the local board of 
health. In order that his advice may be had to the fullest extent, it seems 
necessary that generally the health officer should meet with the local board of 
health, and the local board of health is authorized to fix his conpensation, 
which should include his services at meetings of the board, compensation for 
his services in reporting to the State Board of Health, etc. By Sec. 1693, 
compiled laws 1871, as amended by act No. 202, Laws of 1881, every board of 
health is empowered to regulate and audit all fees and charges of persons 
employed by it in the execution of the health laws and of its own regulations, 
including the salary of the health officer. Such of the charges as are payable 
by the township must be paid by the township treasurer upon orders signed by 
the supervisor and clerk. The law gives the board of health the right to audit 
its own expense accounts, and, in townships, the supervisor and clerk, being 
members of the board of health, can easily sign the orders on the treasurer. 
There are many directions in which you can advise your local board of 
health how to put forth effort for lessening sickness and deaths within its 
jurisdiction:— 
I. Epidemics should be prevented.—This can generally be done, if local 
boards of health will but act efficiently in studying out and applying methods 
which are now practicable. 
As regards small-pox, the Legislature of 1879 made an additional provision 
for its restriction and the first general provision for its prevention, by an act 
authorizing the board of health of each city, village, and township in the State 
to offer free vaccination to every child not previously vaccinated, and to all 
other persons who have not been vaccinated within the preceding five years. 
This law enables local boards of health better to carry out the recommenda- 
tion contained in a preamble and resolution of the State Board of Health, 
adopted in July, 1877, as follows :— 
Whereas, By means of vaccination and revaccination the people may secure complete immunity 
from small-pox,— 
Resolved, That all local hoards of health he advised and requested to direct their health physi. 
cians to offer, every year, vaccination -with hovine vaccine virus, to every child not previously 
vaccinated, and to all other persons not vaccinated within five years, without cost to the vaccin- 
ated, hut at the general expense of the locality, as provided for townships in section 1736, compiled 
laws, 1871. 
The law passed in 1879 is as follows (Act No. 146):— 
Section 1. The People of the Stale of Michigan enact, That the board of health in Board of health 
each city, village, and township may, at any time, direct its health officer or health authorized to 
. . . , „ ... , . . . , , furnish vaccina- 
physician to offer vaccination with hovine vaccine virus to every child not pre- tion> 
viously vaccinated, and to all other persons who have not been vaccinated within 
the preceding five years, without cost to the persons [person] vaccinated, hut at the 
expense of such city, village, or township, as the case may he. 
Vaccination and revaccination are preventives of small-pox, and if the peo- 
ple are kept thoroughly protected in this way it is believed that no epidemic of 
that disease can occur. 
A document on the prevention and restriction of small-pox lias been published 
by the State Board of Health, and copies may be had by addressing the Secretary, 4 
WORK OF HEALTH OFFICERS AND OF LOCAL BOARDS. 
at Lansing.* But small-pox is not the disease most to be dreaded in Michigan. 
Ten times as many deaths occur in the State from either scarlet fever or 
diphtheria as from small-pox; in some years more than twenty times as many. 
And while for these diseases we have no such preventive measure as is vaccina- 
tion for small-pox, they are believed to be as truly preventable by means of 
isolation of first cases, disinfection of infected material, etc., as is small-pox 
itself. 
Epidemics of communicable disease can frequently be prevented by restrict- 
ing outbreaks to the first cases which occur. 
II. PROMPT NOTICE OF OUTBREAKS OF DISEASE SHOULD BE SECURED.—For 
the most effective restriction of all communicable diseases one of the first 
requisites is that your board shall promptly receive notice of every case of a 
communicable disease. The law makes provision therefor; see sections 1734, 
1735, 6852, 6853, and 6855, Compiled Laws of Michigan, 1871, and the act 
printed below (No. 157, laws of 1879), relative to complaints by health 
officers for failure to report cases of diseases dangerous to the public health. It 
is especially desirable that the attention of the public in your vicinity be called 
to the requirements of these sections of the law, and the fact impressed upon 
the minds of the people that safety from communicable diseases can be secured 
only by giving prompt notice of the first case and of all cases of any such dis- 
ease, to the health officer or local board of health, in order that immediate 
steps may be taken for restricting and suppressing such disease. To complete 
the provision for such notices is one of the first duties of your board. It is 
again recommended that your board of health have a sufficient number of blanks 
for such notices for the use of householders and physicians distributed within 
your jurisdiction, in order to call attention to the law and secure the material 
for a complete record in your office and in the office of the clerk of your board. 
The two sections of law, 1734 and 1735, and summary statements of sections 
6852, 6853, and 6855, referred to above, and of-Act No. 157, laws of 1879, 
should be printed on the back of each blank. You can find the form for 
such blanks for notices on the last leaf of this circular. These blanks can be 
purchased of W. S. George & Co., of Lansing, for one dollar per hundred. 
Act No. 157, laws of 1879, makes it the duty of every health officer of a 
village or city to give notice, to the prosecuting attorney of the county,f of 
any failure in householders or physicians to report cases of communicable dis- 
eases to the health officer or to the local board of health. The act makes no 
exceptions on account of any other similar provisions in local charters or ordi- 
nances. Omitting the title, the act is as follows:— 
Health officer to 
notify prosecu- 
ting attorney of 
all failures to 
report. 
Section 1. The People of the Slate of Michigan enact, That it shall be the duty of 
the health officer of each village and city in this State, whenever he shall know, or 
have good reason to believe that any penalty or forfeiture has been incurred within 
his city or village, by reason of neglect to comply with section one thousand seven 
hundred and thirty-four or section one thousand seven hundred and thirty-five of 
the compiled laws of eighteen hundred and seventy one, forthwith to give notice 
thereof, in writing, to the prosecuting attorney of his county, which notice shall 
* The document has also been stereotyped by the Board, and any number of copies for distribu- 
tion may be purchased of W. 8. George & Co., Lansing, at the following rates, cash to accompany 
the order;— 
100 copies for $3.00 
200 “ " 4.50 
300 “ " 6.00 
400 copies for 87.00 
500 “ “ 8.00 
1,000 “ •• 14.00 
t Section 6855, compiled laws of 18?1, requires the Prosecuting Attorney to prosecute for any for- 
feiture within his county. HEALTH OFFICER SHOULD BE INSTRUCTED TO ACT PROMPTLY. 
5 
state, as near as may be, the time of such neglect, the name of the person incurring What notice to 
the penalty or forfeiture, and, as near as can be ascertained, the name or names of slate- 
persons sick with a disease dangerous to the public health, and not reported as the 
law requires. 
III. Communicable diseases should be restricted.—When notice or 
information of the occurrence of a case of a communicable disease reaches the 
local board, the hoard should act promptly for the restriction of the 
disease. To neglect or postpone such action is a great violation of public 
trust. As so much depends on prompt action on the appearance of the first 
case of a communicable disease, and in order that no time may be lost, it is 
the duty of every board of health to make provision for prompt action by its 
health officer, authorizing and directing him to be prepared at all times, as 
executive officer of the board, to take certain action without waiting for a meet- 
ing of the board, whenever a case of scarlet fever, diphtheria, small-pox, or 
other disease dangerous to the public health occurs within its jurisdiction. 
Some of the duties which the health officer should be directed to perform may 
be briefly suggested as follows : He should— 
1. Promptly verify the reports of cases of scarlet fever, diphtheria, small- 
pox, or other dangerous disease, and investigate suspected cases which are not 
reported, so that he may act intelligently. 
2. Secure the prompt and thorough isolation of those sick with or exposed 
to such a disease, and see isolation is continued as long as there is 
any danger of communicating the disease. 
3. See that no person suffers for lack of nurses, etc., because of isolation for 
the public good. 
4. In case of an outbreak of small-pox, secure a prompt vaccination of all 
persons who have been or may be exposed to the disease. 
5. Give public notice of infected places, as required by section 1732*, com- 
piled laws of 1871. 
6. Notify teachers or superintendents of schools concerning families in which 
are contagious diseases. 
7. Regulate funerals of persons dead from scarlet fever, diphtheria, small- 
pox, etc. 
8. Disinfect rooms, clothing, and premises, and all articles likely to be 
infected, before allowing their use by other persons, f 
9. Give certificates of recovery and of freedom from liability to communi- 
cate the disease. 
10. Keep his own board of health, and the State Board of Health, con- 
stantly informed respecting every outbreak of a disease dangerous to the 
public health. 
A meeting of the board of health should, however, be held as soon as possi- 
ble on the outbreak of a communicable disease. The local board of health and 
* Notice of in- 
fected places. 
(1732.) Sec. 41. When the small-pox, or any other disease to the public 
health, is found to exist in any township, the board of health shall use all possible 
care to prevent the spreading of the infection, and to give public notice of infected 
places to travelers, by such means as In their judgment shall be most effectual for 
the common safety. 
t For methods, see pamphlet entitled "Restriction and Prevention of Scarlet Fever,” issued by 
this Board, reprinted on pages 211-218 of the Annual Report of the Board, for 1881; also a document 
on “Restriction and Prevention of Diphtheria,” reprinted on pages 205-210 of the same Report; 
also a document entitled the Prevention and Restriction of Small-pox, issued by this State Board 
of Health, and printed on pages 289-304 of the Report for 1881. 6 
WORK OF HEALTH OFFICERS AND OF LOCAL BOARDS. 
the physician in charge of cases of such a disease should co-operate for its 
restriction. The local board of health should especially guard against its 
spread by cases where no physician is employed. 
IV. Cases of diseases which endanger the public health should 
be recorded.—Another duty incumbent upon the local board of health is the 
recording of the sickness from communicable diseases, and of the deaths of 
citizens and persons under its protection ; such records to be for local use and 
also to be reported to this State Board, so that, when grouped with the records 
of other localities, the conditions may be studied, and new methods of preven- 
tion learned from such unhappy experiences which otherwise will continually 
be repeated. 
A form of “Record of Diseases Dangerous to the Public Health” is printed (reduced in size), on 
page 10 of this circular. Toucan procure printed sheets of such a record, on paper 15)4 by 19)4 
inches, of W. S. George & Co., of Lansing, for eighty cents per quire or three dollars per hundred. 
If desired, the same dealers will bind them at usual prices. 
It is hoped that hereafter you will, as Health Officer, be prepared and make 
a record of all important facts concerning “diseases dangerous to the public 
health” which may come under your observation or be reported to you. Aside 
from the importance of such a local record, it will enable yon, when called 
upon, to make a full report to this State Board concerning cases of such 
diseases.* 
Y. Much sickness and many deaths from ordinary diseases should 
be prevented.—A field of labor, perhaps even wider than that with the com- 
municable diseases, is open to your local board of health, namely, the inau- 
guration of measures for preventing sickness and deaths from the ordinary 
diseases in this State, a very great proportion of which are now believed by our 
best sanitarians to be preventable. Some of the prominent measures to be 
inaugurated are:— 
1. More thorough drainage of the soil, especially near dwellings. 
2. Better securities against the contamination of the water-supply, particu- 
larly in wells, by filth-saturated soil, etc. 
3. A strict guard over the purity of the air, and freedom from nuisances 
and unclean places. 
4. Better sanitary and hygienic arrangements and plans in the public schools, 
and in public buildings and institutions. 
In the execution of these measures, much may be accomplished by system- 
atic and thorough inspections and by published reports of such inspections, 
which shall attract attention to the subject, give definite knowledge of existing 
defects, and suggest methods of improvement. 
5. Typhoid fever is believed to be a disease often communicated by means 
of water or milk contaminated with the discharges from typhoid fever patients 
or with the remains of those who have died from the disease. Hence typhoid 
fever might often be prevented by a thorough disinfection of such discharges, 
and by requiring that those who have died from the disease shall be buried 
entirely away from all sources of water-supply, and by condemning sources of 
water-supply already thus contaminated. 
* Act No. 81, Laws of 1873, Sec. 8: “It shall be the duty of the health physician, and also of the 
clerk of the local board of health in each township, city, and village in this State, at least once in 
each year, to Report to the State Board of Health their proceedings, and such other facts required, 
on blanks, and in accordance with instructions received from said State Board. They shall also 
make special reports whenever required to do so by the State Board of Health.” BOARD OP HEALTH SHOULD LEAD IN KNOWLEDGE AND WORK. 
7 
VI. inuisances should be abated.—While it is not, as many suppose, the 
first and only duty of a health officer to smell out a cesspool or an offensive 
privy, he is the one to whom, from his official position and authority, the peo- 
ple properly look to discover and abate any such nuisance. Freedom from 
such sources of sickness is believed to be one essential condition of good health 
in a community, and a duly empowered health officer or a board of health 
that from any considerations whatever does not do the utmost (and the power 
of a local board of health under the law is almost absolute) to prevent and 
remove such unsanitary conditions is guilty of a plain neglect of duty and a 
violation of official trust. For a valuable discussion of the power of local 
boards of health in the abatement of nuisances, the reader is referred to a 
paper on the powers and duties of local boards of health, by Hon. LeRoy 
Parker of Flint, published in the Report of this Board for 1879, pages 289-300 ; 
also a report by Homer O. Hitchcock, M. D., on Slaughter-houses and Rend- 
ering establishments, on pages 65-80 of the same Report.* 
VII. Sanitary information should be disseminated among the 
people.—The local board of health should be a center of sanitary and hygienic 
intelligence for its locality ; its meetings should not be infrequent, and should 
be so managed as to secure papers or discussions on special subjects and on the 
application of the principles of sanitary science to the particular sources of 
danger in the immediate vicinity, and otherwise to encourage progress in sani- 
tary knowledge, among.the members of the board as well as among the people. 
Charged, under an official oath, with the duty of guarding the life and health 
of fellow-citizens, the duty of members and officers of boards of health to seek 
out the best that is known in public hygiene and sanitary methods seems to 
be plain. The best sanitary work cannot be done except by the cooperation of 
the people with the board of health, aud this can be secured when the people 
are well informed on sanitary subjects; the thorough distribution by local 
boards of health of all such documents as the one issued by this Board on the 
Restriction and Prevention of Scarlet Fever and the one on the Restriction and 
Prevention of Diphtheria will tend to disseminate useful information and 
greatly decrease sickness from such diseases.* 
Many sources of information in sanitary science and public hygiene are now 
accessible to those who can secure the literature of these subjects. You can 
doubtless find something of value without great effort. There are now many 
works on hygiene, and many periodicals devoted to the subject,—several of 
them giving especial attention to particular branches of the subject. A knowl- 
edge of some of the sources of greatest danger to life in this State may be 
gained by a study of the Registration Reports on Vital Statistics of Michigan, 
published by the Secretary of State. These are, or should be, in your town- 
ship library. A few years ago a pamphlet copy of the Public Health Laws of 
this State was sent to the health officer of each township, to be delivered to the 
supervisor if no other health officer was appointed. The first eight Annual 
* The documents on “Restriction and Prevention of Diphtheria,” and on the “ Restriction and 
Prevention of Scarlet Fever,” have been revised and reprinted by the State Board of Health, and 
copies of either may be had by addressing the Secretary, at Lansing; they have also been stereo- 
typed by the Board, and copies of either may be obtained by local boards of health and others of 
George & Co., Lansing, Mich, at the following prices, cash to accompany the order:— 
100 copies for 81.75 
200 “ “ 2.50 
300 “ “ 3.50 
400 copies for 84.25 
500 “ “ 4.75 
I 1,000 “ “ 8.00 
The order should state whether they are wanted in the English, the German, or the Dutch lan- 
guage. 8 
WORK OF HEALTH OFFICERS AND OF LOCAL BOARDS. 
.Reports of this State Board of Health have been sent as issued, and are, or 
should be, in your township library. 
The Annual Reports of the State Board of Health have been sent, year by 
year, to the health officers whose names and addresses have been returned to 
this office; but when no return of the name and address of the health officer is 
received no Report is sent, because it is not known to whom to send the Report. 
You will find something relative to work of local boards of health and health 
officers on pages 6, 11, 15, 16, 29, and 30 of the First Report (for 1873); on 
pages xi-xv, xxv, and xxviii-xxix of the Second Report; on pages xliii-xlv and 
1-10 of the third Report; on pages xxxvi, xxxvii, 6, 7, 11-12, 127, 128, 129, 
and 130 of the Fourth Report; on pages xxxii-xxxv of the Fifth Report (for 
1877); on pages ix-xviii and xxiii-xxxiii of the Sixth Report (for 1878); on 
pages lvii-xli, 66—80, 291-300, 329, 330-1, 332-4 of the Report for 1879; also 
on pages xlix-liv, lviii, Ixii-lxxii, Ixxiii-lxxviii, Ixxxiv-lxxxv, of the Report 
for 1880. 
An important means of disseminating information among the people is the 
promulgation of rules by the local board of health respecting nuisances, sources 
of filth and causes of sickness, particularly sickness from contagious diseases. 
Such rules every local board is authorized to make, by sections 1694, 1695, and 
1696. A set of rules recommended by the State Board of Health for adoption 
by local boards, was printed on pages xix-xxii of the Report for 1875. They 
will probably soon be revised and republished. 
Full public notice of such rules as may be adopted from time to time should 
be given, in accordance with section 1698, Compiled Laws of 1871, which is as 
follows: , 
Notice of regula- 
tions, how pub- 
lished. 
(1698.) Sec. 7. Notice shall be given by the board of health of all regulations made 
by them, by publishing the same in some newspaper of the township, if there be one 
published therein, and if not, then by posting them up in five public places in such 
township, and such notice of said regulations shall be deemed legal notice to all 
persons. 
The State Board of Health would be glad to receive copies of rules, regula- 
tions, and ordinances, or blank forms adopted by the board of health of any 
township, city, or village. 
VIII. Your local board of health has two kinds of functions :—1. To 
utilize for your own people the sanitary knowledge already accessible, as indi- 
cated in sections I., III., V., VI., and VII., and elsewhere in this circular; 
2. To add to the general stock of such knowledge. You can make additions to 
sanitary knowledge by original research, by means of records of experience, 
including such as may be secured by methods indicated in sections II. and IV. 
of this circular, by means of vital statistics, which supply an important basis for 
public hygiene, and by freely reporting to this Board, which will then eventually 
be able to give to each local board the benefits of the experience of all the 
others. In order to be able to report to the State Board of Health as the law 
requires, the local board must collect facts. If the local board does not receive 
notices of cases of communicable diseases, this is, in some degree, its own 
fault; because the law requires each member of the township board, whenever 
he shall “have good reason to believe” that a forfeiture from neglect to report 
any such case has been incurred “forthwith to give notice” to the supervisor, 
and it is the duty of the supervisor “forthwith to commence and prosecute a 
suit ;” and in cities and villages, the law makes it the duty of the health officer 
to report to the prosecuting attorney all cases of forfeiture under sections PROMPT REPORTS OF OUTBREAKS OF DISEASES DEMANDED. 
9 
1734 and 1735; and the prosecuting attorney is required to prosecute for all 
such forfeitures. 
In case any disease appears in your locality as an epidemic, please send a 
Special Report of the facts to this office as soon as possible.* It is particularly 
desirable that you study and record the conditions coincident with the rise, 
progress, and decline of any epidemic. It is hoped that you will correspond 
freely with this Board. Whenever there occurs, in your locality, any out- 
break of a communicable or preventable disease, it is expected that you will 
inquire into, study, and record the conditions coincident with the rise, progress, 
and decline of any such outbreak, and, besides making the local record, be 
prepared to make a valuable report to this Board. Every such instance of 
suffering in your locality should be made to yield some valuable data useful 
for advancing the cause of public health. 
By direction of the State Board of Health. 
Very respectfully, 
Henry B. Baker, 
Secretary. 
[Please preserve the circulars received from this office.] 
* This is here officially demanded, under the law,—section S, Act 81, Laws of 1873. 10 
WORK OF HEALTH OFFICERS AND OF LOCAL BOARDS. 
RECORD 
NUMBER. 
Received for Record. 
FULL NAME OF PATIENT. 
Sex. 
Age in 
Years, last 
Birthday. 
NAME OF DISEASE. 
Month. 
Day. 
Year. 
IN THE OF , COUNTY OF , STATE OF MICHIGAN. 
TAKEN SICK. 
Whether Died, Living, 
or Recovered. 
Date of Death or 
Recovery. 
PERSONS WHO FURNISHED THE FACTS FOR RECORD. 
Month. 
Day. 
Year. 
Month. 
Day. 
Year. 
Name. 
P. O. Address. 
The reported source of contagion or infection, in each case, was as follows: For the case recorded as No it was 
(Blank sheets of Record, similar to the form here indicated, on paper 15)£ by 19>£- inches, printed on both sides alike, so that it can he hound in hook form, 
can he procured of W. S. George & Co., Lansing, Mich., for 80 cents per quire, or $3.00 per hundred. If desired, the same dealers will hind them at usual 
rates.) 
RECORD OF CASES OF DISEASES DANGEROUS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH WHICH HAVE OCCURRED NOTICES OF DISEASES ENDANGERING THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 
11 
HOUSEHOLDER’S or PHYSICIAN’S NOTICE OF A COMMUNICABLE DISEASE. 
[Form of Notice recommended by the State Board of Health for the use of Householders and Physicians, in complying with sections 1734 and 1735, Com- 
piled Laws of Michigan, 1871, and section 1740, Compiled Laws, 1S71, as amended by Act No. 145, Laws of 1879. See over.] 
To the Clerk or Health Officer of the* of , County of 
•„ State of Michigan, as Clerk or Health Officer of the Board of Health: 
.Sir:—The following persons, within the jurisdiction of your Board, have been taken sick with “diseases dangerous to the public 
health.”! 
NAMES OF PERSONS. 
Sex. 
AGE IN 
Years 
Last 
Birth- 
day. 
Name of Disease. 
Taken Sick. 
Whether 
Died, Living, 
or Recovered. 
Date of death or 
Recovery. 
Month. 
Day. 
Year. 
Month. 
Day. 
Year. 
So far as known, the source of the contagious or infectious cause of the disease as follows: For case 
No. 1, it was 
The residence of the sick persons above reported is as follows: Of case No. 1, it is at No 
street, ; of case No. 2, it is - 
This notice is given by 
Dated at No street,. , 1S8 
* Insert the word city, village, or township. 
flncludes Measles, Whooping-cough, Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever, Typhus Fever, Typhoid Fever, Puerperal Fever, Erysipelas, Small-pox, Cholera, etc. 12 
NOTICES OF DISEASES ENDANGERING THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 
LAWS REQUIRING HOUSEHOLDERS and PHYSICIANS TO REPORT DISEASES. 
Sections 1734 and 1735, Compiled Laws of Michigan, 1871, are as follows:— 
(1734.) Sec. 43. Whenever any householder shall know that any person within his family is taken sick with the small-pox, or any 
■other disease dangerous to the public health, he shall immediately give notice thereof to the Board of Health, or to the Health Officer of 
the township [city, or village*] in which he resides; and if he shall refuse or neglect to give such notice, he shall forfeit a sum not 
'exceeding one hundred dollars.! 
(1735.) Sec. 44. Whenever any physician shall know that any person whom he is called to visit is infected with the small-pox, or 
any other disease dangerous to the public health, such physician shall immediately give notice thereof to the Board of Health or Health 
Officer of the township [city, or village*] in which such diseased person may he; and every physician who shall refuse or neglect to 
give such notice, shall forfeit, for each offense, a sum not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars.! 
* Required in cities and villages by section 1740, Compiled Laws 1871, as amended by Act No. 145, Laws of 1879. 
t Supervisors must prosecute for all such forfeitures; township officers must give notice to supervisor; prosecuting attorney to conduct suit if requested; 
isee sections 6S52, 6853, and 6855, Compiled Laws of Michigan, 1871. Health officers of villages and cities must notify prosecuting attorney of all violations of 
this section,—see Act No. 157, Laws of 1879; the prosecuting attorney must prosecute for all such forfeitures incurred within his county,—see section 
'6855, Compiled Laws of 1871. 
Blank Notices similar to this leaf may be obtained of W. S. George & Co., Lansing, Mich, 
for one dollar per hundred.] 
Notice of sickness of 
Sick ivith 
Reported by 
Filed