ON THE HISTORY OF MARITIME QUARANTINE IN QUEENSLAND , 19 th CENTURY

An example of such practices is the code of rules containing in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Leviticus. These rules define the degree of isolation and other measures to be applied in the case of "lepers." In the early ages, countries remained isolated, and there was little trade between them so no marked spread of infection in an epidemic manner occurred. Measures of self protection against incoming diseases were not then considered necessary by any country. In the sixth century, however, the great plague epidemic, usually referred to as the Plague of Justinian, began in Egypt. Another critical period in the same connection is marked by the introduction of plague to Europe from China in the 14th Century. Creighton (History of Epidemics, Great Britain, Vol. 1, p. 1) emphasises the importance of these epochs as follows:—