DIFFICULT GERM

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 118, 14 November 1929, Page 12

DIFFICULT GERM

FQOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE RECENT REVELATIONS (From "The Post's" Representative.) -LONDON, 6th September. Delegates to the Veterinary.Congress at Ayr discussed the question of foot and mouth disease, most of the speakers favouring the slaughter policy in attacking the disease. "It has been conclusively proved that one way the virus of disease enters this country is in Continental pig carcasses shipped here to be converted into' socalled Ayrshire bacon," declared Mr. J. C. Powley, Superintending Inspector of the Ministry of Agriculture. In a piggery in Yorkshire, continued Mr. Poivley, an inspector recently noticed a large number of lame rats when dealing with an outbreak of the disease, and this discovery was being investigated by the research committee. There' were several reasons why it should be possible for the rat to' contract the disease naturally, one of which was its burrowing propensities. If the rat was proved to contract the disease naturally, the work of dealing with outbreaks in the field would be more difficult. In Lancashire there had been clear circumstantial, evidence of infection of pigs and cattle through freshly-ground bones for poultry from South American beef carcasses. Cattle food was frequently carried in old Argentine sacks packed in-ships' holds in contact with hides and many other meat products which might contain infective material. Considering the extent of the disease on the Continent and in South America, combined with the greatly increased facilities for trade with them', the wonder was.that this country was at times so free.

Continuing, Mr. Powley contradicted the common impression that the virus of foot and mouth was easily destroyed in hay and garden soil. It had lived twenty-five to thirty days and virus kept on hay and bran at atmospheric vapour pressure had remained alive two to five months. When this discovery was combined with the astonishing fact that experimentally the disease could be produced with the virus diluted one in ten millions, one could realise the difficulty in eradicating the disease. Professor S. H. Gaiger, of Liverpool, stated that one tablespoonful of the virus should be diluted to 30,000 gallons of water, which would be infective when injected into susceptible animals. After a' tour of inspection- of the Argentine last year, he thought there was a distinct possibility of cattle being killed in the incubative stages of the disease and exported to England. The situation, however, was improving. Major D. S. Eabaliati, of Wakefield, expressed the opinion that the private slaughter-house so. common on English farms was one of the most potent spreaders of foot and mouth and other diseases.

A strong protest against the presumption that this country was compelled to import large and increasing quantities of. South American meat was made by Major J. A. Dixon, of Leeds. "The importation of frozen meat from South America," he said, "has made meat cheap on the wholesale market, but not to the consumer. For nine months in the year fat cows can scarcely be given away; The butchers find they can make more profit out of handling foreign meat.