Rongelap, Marshall Islands
March 15, 1964
A Preliminary Statement Concerning the Medical Survey of the
Rongelap People Ten Years after their Exposure to Fallout Radiation.
In March 1964, a Combined Atomic Energy Commission and Trust
Territory medical team carried out the annual survey of the people of
Rongelap Island, 10 years after their accidental exposure to fallout
radiation,
Dr. T. Kumatori of the National Institute of Radiological
Sciences, Chiba, Japan, who is in charge of the annual medical exami-~
nations of the Lucky Dragon fishermen involved in the same accident as
the Marshallese, visited Rongelap for the survey.
Dr, Robert Conard of
Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York, who heads up the A.E.C,. medical
team, had visited Dr. Kumatori in Japan for examination of the exposed
Japanese fishermen prior to the Rongelap survey.
The following statement concerning the results of the survey at
Rongelap must be considered as preliminary in nature since most of the
data collected has yet to be analyzed.
During the past year the people
have been well with no major epidemics of disease.
The poliomyelitis
epidemic which occurred during the 1963 survey has been controlled with
no further spread of the disease,
The usual number of cases of upper
respiratory infections and gastroenteritis were reported,
One death had _
occurred in a 108 year old exposed woman, presumably due to senility.
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The usual number of normal births in both exposed and unexposed groups
were noted,
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