ï~~ U.S.S. Seattle, September 50, 18. R~Q 4e 1 Officer. icine & Surgery, via Commanding Officer. Sub ao eic of Influenz&. 1. The present epidemic of influenza made its appear sne on the ship September 6th, when the first case re port d to the S p Bay. To date, 88 cases have develoed, of which, 49 we transferred to the U.S. Naval Hospital Por'tsmoth, N.H.. Of the cases transferred to the hospital 8 developed broneho- pneum onia with 3 deaths. 2 are yet in a serious eondition. 2. Origin: No exact date can be given, but it is esablished that the disease prevailed in the Navy Yard, before it developed aboard ship. There were oases at the Naval Hospital September 10th. The first cases we transferred from ship to hospital September 17th. There' were probably eses in the city of Portsmouth for an appreciable time before they were officially reported. The spread of the disease was probably enhaced by the fact that this vessel was in dry-dock from Sagdeeriber 4th to September 16th inclusive. The work on the a1i?s sides and bottom, and. the variable and inclementeater conditions increased the number of eatarrhal affetios and correspondingly increased susceptibility to infection. 5 The eases conformed to the usual type of the disease. Nearly 50% were.mild, and recovered in 3 to 4 daye Some of these showed symptoms so mild as to render the diagnosis doubtful, but were treated as influenza, and are so included in this report. The usual precautions were taken to check the spread of the disease. iDecks anda bulkheads were swabbed down with a 1% cresol solution and a nose and throat spray for the personnel was carried out. 4. The accompanying chart shows the number of eases developing fromn day to day, and the number transferred to A 0