DAIRY HERDS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18266, 27 December 1924, Page 3

DAIRY HERDS.

CHECKING MAMMITIS.

CLAIMS FOR NEW VACCINE,

(3?icul to "rta r&sss.") j AUCKLAND, December 26. j A vaccine that is confidently claimed; to give cows immunity from tho dread , diseaso of mammitis, and has already i effected some remarkable cures, has j been discovered bv a Hamilton bacten-1 ologist. The treatment has been tried j at Ormi, Tatuanui, and Te AVamutu, j and has proved to have a wonderful cf-, feet on cows seriously affected with the j disease. For years mammitis has constituted a difficult problem to both the dairy farmer and veterinarian. The general improvement in tho milk yielding capacity of dairy cows renders the animals more prone to udder troubles of this kind. Until now no reEabjo : curative treatment has been discovered, j although a considerable amount of research work has been done by the Government Veterinary Department. Belief has been given in isolated cases by injecting various solutions such as boric acid into tho affected quarters. Contagious mammitis is extremely prevalent throughout the Waikato. It has been estimated that the annual loss through contagious mammitis to the dairy industry of New Zealand runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Many remedies are marketed, some of -which, have given temporary relief, but a. preventive- which aims at the base of tho disease has, up to tho present time, not been known. The disooverv under review is based on throe years' bacteriological investigation, and it is claimed that through it Tna.niTmt.isi can now be combated. _ The preventive has as its basis the giving to the beast of total immunity from the disease on the principle of the T.A.B. inoculation again3t typhoid. The treatment consists of injecting vaccine with an ordinary hypodermic syringe into the bloodstream of the affected cow three times at intervale spread aver a fortnight. The injection is usually given in the shoulder. The cow does not seem affected by tho treatment so far as its general condition is concerned, and does not give less milk in consequence of the injection. In every herd treated with the vaccine the results have been far beyond expectations. In no case has a cow contracted mammitis again, except where the structure of the udder has been destroyed by the disease. Cows with weak quarters como in sound after treatment. One of the worst infected herds in the Waikato, in which the cows have suffered from the disease for years, has been treated and every eow is now sound, not one having a weak Cfuarter. Of course where the quarter or quarters affected hawe gone too far and the "sponge" has become calloused or partially destroyed, it is obviously impossible for the treatment to restore it to its natural state. The promoters are anxious to co-oper-ate with tho Government in combating the disease. They are entirely disinterested, their one aim being to benefit the farming community. With this in view three of their number, including Mr E. C. Day, a well-known Hamilton business man, and Mr J. Cr. Williams, an Orini farmer who has taken keen interest in the project, visited Wellington last week with a view to enlisting the sympathy of the Cabinet. Only two Ministers could be seen, tho Hon. G. J. Anderson and the Hon. R. F. Bollard. Both expressed the keenest interest in the vaccine treatment, and promised the deputation every support. Advice has since been received that the Hamilton Veterinary Department has been instructed to carry out independent tests with the vaccine. The Ministers gave Messrs Williams and Day authority to proceed with the work they Were doing, while Mr Anderson pledged the Cabinet's support to the scheme. The promoters are now waiting to see in what form this support will be given, and how soon it will take practical shape.