TUBERCULOSIS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 122, 15 February 1908, Page 3

TUBERCULOSIS.

v i THE MASTERTON SCARE

A BELATED DISCOVERY.

Someone up in Masterton has discovered, 'for tho-first time-in his life, that portions of tuberculous - animals . are - sometimes, sold .for ./beef, steaks. -Tho practice is one . that, prevails in every town (liv New Zealand, iind •m every. town in the whole world, and has ■ prevailed , ever since the' time' when'we' first ■ became beef-eaters. The question of whether . .» tuberculous animal shall, become beof steaks .or. only tallow catidlcs depends,.on. the. extent • of the disease,witl\\vhich'it'is afflicted." Tho ■ inspecting yeteririariari.'is, the; man who decides which fato it'shall be/ . - Rules for tho; guidance of inspectors on / the point, drawn up in' Britain, ten years ago, will throw,, some light' upon the matteiy Tno > "Third; Royal Commission .on Tuberculosis, 1898," in its report lays downj-re- ; 'commendations, in regard to (a) slaughter-, houses, (b) qualifications, of •••'•• and' (c) tuberculosis in animals, intended, for. .food. It-goes on to ; recommend' that, tho Local Government Board;should be empowered to^issue-instructions from .time to. time, for the guidance; of meat inspectors,: prescribing • the; degree of tubercular disease which, in the:' opinion of the Board, should cause carcasses or portions thereof : to : be seized. Pending "the issue of such ; ..instructions the Commission recommended that the: following principles should be, observed in the. inspection of tuberculous carcasses of cattle:— ; ; The entire carcass and all the organs may. be seized when—: • ■■''■,}■.■ < ■. A. There is miliary tuberculosisj of / both' lungs. 'i' B. Tubercular lesions aro present on the ; pleura and,peritoneum. C.. Tuberculosis and tuberculous lesions.are. presont' in .the muscular system or .in the lymphatic 'glands, embedded in" or. between the muscles. : ■ D. Tuberculous lesions "exist in any part of an emaciated carcass: , . ThoCommission gives four conditions where. a, carcass otherwise healthy shall not be. entirely; condemned,, but every part of. it containing tuberculous s lesions' "shall" ,bo seized:— ■ ' A.-, When the lesions are confined to tho -lungs and the-thoracic lymphatic glands. " :B.'When "the lesions are confined to tho liver.'' ■ Vv.-'...'X'V:'-' "■ , C. Whenthevlesions'-are confined to the pharyngeal; lymphatic; glands. ;- ' :D. When the lesions aro. confined to 'any 'combination 1 - of ithe'foregoihgV '-but' are collectively small in extent: ..: But. Jiere is: a clause whicli;.hits New Zea- . land hard"ln view of tho greater tendency to generalisation; of tuberculosis in pigs,' we' (the■. Commission): consider-that: the presence ,of- tubercular deposit? in'.any' degree should involve seizure of the.' whole', carcass and of tho organ:- In respect of foreign dead meat, - seizure shall; ensue' in ; every 'case* where'-'tho' plourajhas- been ''stripped'.".;(Stripping;; itmay bo explained, is,, a; technical • dodge to ■ remove traces of aisoasel) :. •• 'V The reason why the last-written clause car-, ries a special interest to New Zealanders is that we eat such a large number of partially condemned pigs every year. The New Zealand rules apparently do notiprescribe total. , condemnation: of ■ all infected pigsi Last: year,, outVof .5700; diseased- pigs killed for . local food'we ate i960. In" other words; out of every ;six tuberculous-pigs discovered,; wo allowe3\to eatmoro than. five. Tho following figures,; taken; from the last report ■ of the Chief Government Veterinarian, show . the numbers of slaughtered animals 'detected with tuberculosis-in New; Zealand.during the year, and. tho numbers of/them that were wholly condemned or were eaten:— »■ ' •'-; For human food ' -'•'-' ■'f' ■'' £s-■. V. i,'.. 1 w"-Sa' ■ • .. • --..ou ■: tn-.o go - " fV -S-' ..'..• x,'. 11 IJS ' ■' . J-.-e Sv-:--;S . - • Q & p , . Bujlocks ... 71,754 ,464 * 1161 954 ' Cows - ... 17,782 502 521 415 ' ■ Swine ' ....93,747 741 "4502 458 • .. - The column .headed "Diseased, but ' all , eaten','—(the headings are ours) —shows tho number-, of : animals ,that were affected with . tuberculosa so slightiy as to be .considered fit for human;,food without having tho diseased parts removed. 7 I ' f The person most , in danger, of trouble . through eating tuberculous meat is' the man ' who ' likes .his. beef underdone. The London • "Times" of February 2,' 1907; stated: : ' "It; .; was _shown years ago ;in . a report issued by , the - Medical Department of the Local Govcrn- • • Board that- tubercle bacilli in 'flesh may . ,D 6 destroyed by. effective cooking, but that it was quite .possible to. have cooking 'which,' for .this purpose, could riot,be^so .described; . Living bacilli were found in the ceritralparts of. a,' roll- of, meat: which had. been, baked "or ■: , roasted; a.degreo of .temperature sufficiorit to destroy the, vitality \riot : having .reached, them.: We'are conscious, of the skill and " . care-which are exercised by thei inspectors at' . the London-Central .Cattle., Market -in their ,search for tuberculous carcasses, but ,it is. impossible to ;believe that none of sucli escapes detection)-or . that, tuberculous meat , is ; not- freely sold in places whero the mspec--tion is less"systematic.'' 'I