In the war which England waged against the free states, Orange and Transvaal, and which lasted more than two years and necessitated the transportation, on the part of England, of more than 400,000 soldiers to South Africa, infectious diseases, particularly typhoid fever, played a very important rôle. The English army, which averaged 200,000 men, sustained the following losses:[[306]]

Died of diseases.Died in battle and of wounds.Total.
From Feb. 10, 1900, to the end of that year7,0094,08811,097
In the year 19014,3182,3376,655
Total11,3276,42517,752

Typhoid fever had always been prevalent in South Africa; the first cases in the English army were observed during the hurried march to Bloemfontein along the Modder River, on which the soldiers were dependent for drinking-water, despite the fact that typhoid fever was known to be raging in places further upstream. The Berkefeld and Pasteur filters yielded too little water, for the reason that they soon became clogged; the soldiers used boiled water with reluctance, for the reason that it took so long for it to cool. Another source of infection besides the water was the fine dust that was stirred up by daily wind-storms; this dust, being full of disease-germs, contributed greatly to the dissemination of typhoid fever. Furthermore, the crowding together of soldiers in tents caused many of them to contract the disease by direct communication.[[307]]

Jameson, the chief of the army’s medical staff, lamented the fact that sanitary officers (hygienists), originally appointed to accompany each division of troops, were dismissed. The regular doctors, who were then called upon to perform their functions, were fully occupied with taking care of the wounded, and were probably not well informed as to hygienic investigations and measures. The results obtained from preventive inoculation, which was practised on some of the soldiers, were in general satisfactory.

In other places the conditions were similar to those along the Modder River; in Paardeberg the available drinking-water was equally bad, and in Bloemfontein there was an explosion-like outbreak of fever. From the beginning of the campaign to the middle of the year 1900 there were 13,057 cases of disease in the army, and of those 3,174 terminated fatally; the total number of cases during the entire war was no less than 42,741.

The English troops that were shut up in Ladysmith from November 1, 1899, to February 27, 1900, were very severely attacked by typhoid fever. In the first part of November the English garrison had consisted of 13,496 men, and by March it had dwindled down to 10,164 men. The number of sick soldiers committed to the lazaret amounted to no less than 10,668, and of these 1,766 had typhoid fever and 1,857 had dysentery; 383 of the former and 117 of the latter died. When the Boers withdrew there were 1,996 patients in the hospital, 708 of them suffering from typhoid fever, 341 from dysentery, and 189 from wounds.[[308]]

In the Concentration Camps which the English established in the summer of the year 1900 for the accommodation of the women and children in the South African Republics, the pestilences soon gained the upper hand. Lord Roberts had made arrangements to concentrate the families of the Boers in camps; since the farms of the Boers were systematically burned, these camps were supposed to protect their wives and children against starvation, and at the same time the wives and children served as hostages for their husbands and fathers. When the location of these camps was decided upon, not sanitary, but military considerations were taken into account; it was necessary that they should be controlled from a near-by fortress. They soon became overcrowded, the supply of water was inadequate, and there was much uncleanliness. The inhabitants of the camps were mostly women, children, and old men; thus, for example, in October 1901, of the people living in the camps in the Orange Free State, 55 per cent were children under fifteen years of age, 31.9 per cent were women, and 13.1 per cent were men, mostly old men. According to the reports submitted to Parliament the condition of health in the Concentration Camps in Natal and in the Cape Colony was not unfavourable, but in those in Transvaal and Orange it was very bad. The following statistics, covering the time between June and September 1901, relate to the Concentration Camps in the Transvaal:[[309]]

Number of Inhabitants.
Month.Men.Women.Children.Total.
June8,57616,07819,81144,465
July9,66520,01224,46254,139
August10,49622,03625,98358,515
September10,58122,22626,59959,406
Average 54,131
Number of Deaths.
Month.Men.Women.Children.Total.Annual death-rate.
June2648310384103·6
July51118748917203·2
August321851,0141,231252·5
September751651,0141,254253·3
Average 209·8

In regard to the Orange Free State the following statistics, including the month of October, were compiled: