FACIAL ECZEMA OUTBREAK

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29251, 8 July 1960, Page 9

FACIAL ECZEMA OUTBREAK

N.Z. Helping Australia “The Press" Special Service WELLINGTON, July 7. New Zealand was helping and co-operating closely with the Victorian Government in efforts to tackle facial eczema, said Dr. I. J. Cunningham, assistant-Direc-tor-General of Agriculture. A field veterinarian and a mycologist, or fungus expert, from the State Agriculture Department had each recently visited New Zealand to check on facial eczema work here. “They are coming to us,” said Dr. Cunningham, “and we are maintaining close touch with them by correspondence.” Dr. Cunningham said the Gdppeland outbreak looked quite bad, but no worse than recorded outbreaks in, say, the Gisborne district “This is the first time Australia has seen it on anything near its scale here,” he said. Research Progress Research was progressing at both the Wallaceville and the Ruakura animal research stations. Although there had been some recent spectacular breakthroughs in the fight against the disease, New Zealand scientists had a long way to go yet before developing preventive measures. They were at present working on a vaccine to protect sheep

against the poison which caused the disease. Until recently, facial eczema had been peculiar to New Zaeland.