Abstract
IN 1942, authorities of the South Australian Museum, at the request of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, examined the River Murray billabongs and seepage areas for Mollusca which might act as secondary hosts for the trematode worm parasites known to be present in the internees of the Loveday Internment Camps. Crustacea and edible fish—together with Cephalopoda taken from the stomachs of the latter—were also examined. The result of this work was a report strongly recommending that the internees should not be allowed in the vicinity of the river, since there was danger of their excreta infecting local fauna, with the possible consequence that the parasites would be introduced into the Australian population (see Report of the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, for 1942). The report for 1944 shows further work of high social value and importance. During last year the research activities of the Museum were turned towards the microscopic study of insects, the Acarina (particularly the Trombiculinæ), which are associated with the occurrence of scrub typhus in Australia and New Guinea. This work was carried out in collaboration with the Medical Section of the Australian Army, the Scrub Typhus Commission of the U.S.A., as well as with officers of the U.S. Navy. It has resulted in making the South Australian Museum the recognized centre for the identification of these mites; and the Museum's collection of these is now probably the largest in existence.
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Public Health and the Museum. Nature 155, 693 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/155693c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/155693c0