The director of health shall make inquiry, from time to time, of the city and town clerks and practicing physicians, in relation to the prevalence of any disease, or knowledge of any known or generally believed source of disease or causes of general ill health, and also in relation to acts for the promotion and protection of the public health, and also in relation to diseases among domestic animals in their several cities and towns; and those city and town clerks and practicing physicians shall give information, in reply to the inquiries, of those facts and circumstances that have come to their knowledge.