PREVENTION OF MUCOSAL

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28895, 15 May 1959, Page 7

PREVENTION OF MUCOSAL

Stricter Measures Urged A tightening up of restrictions would probably be necessary to ensure the outbreak of mucosal disease in the North Island did not recur in New Zealand, said Mr W. C. Miller, chairman of the dairy section of the North Canterbury Federated Farmers Provincial District, at is annual conference yesterday. He expressed concern at the outbreak of mucosal in the Wairarapa in his report and this was later endorsed by other delegates at the meeting. “Every possible step must be taken to localise the outbreak; the inconvenience of the affected farmers and the public must be minor matters in the issue. Even if we catch up with this it calls for a very searching stocktaking of our immigration regulations as applied to man, beast, and merchandise,” he said. “How it got here is not the only question. What are we doing to stop the creeping in of further such outbreaks of foreign diseases?

“We are no longer pn isolated island in the Pacific, and it can well be that visitors coming here and people returning from overseas trips must be prepared to submit to a little more officialdom. If it is done sensibly and thoroughly there can be little objection when the inconvenience is weighed against the future of this country,” said Mr Miller.