The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1933. AN UNFORTUNATE OUTBREAK.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11955, 27 May 1933, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1933. AN UNFORTUNATE OUTBREAK.

It is to be regretted that it is not possible to record that the outbreak of, jswinc fever in the southern portion of ’Wellington province had completely abated. , On every hand, .it will.be agreed that.it Iras proved a most serious visitation, although it lias not extended beyond •the Johnsonville and llutt districts. If ;tho presence of the fovor had n°t been detected, at such an", early sifige, it might by now have affected a .very wide., area.. A fortunate aspect of the epidemic is that the vic-

tirns have hot included. hny htud stock, for/ iii that event, the djscalo mi/ut easily- have appeared in other /districts into which stud unieruaby purchased! from, the iaffcqtcd iiilj/s have lately been taken.' Swine lever has neyer .proved easy to ■ stamp out anywhere, but credit can |j t , extended to the Department of Agriculture ill connection with the drastic plan of suppression which it is adopting. Not' onlyaro pigs which Kaye contracted the disease being slain and . deeply buried, but like measures are being takun rulso in. the case \of ‘'contacts.'” . What ’is more, all the pigs in the districts concerned aro now under the super- ' vision .of., officials of the'Department and every ease of , sickness is being thoroughly investigated. A most disquieting feature of tlio epidemic i s the inability on the part of the authorities to suggest bow it might have been caused and whether the cause, might still be in existence. As h well-known, the outbreak has conic at a time when vigorous steps are being taken to develop the pig industry on a much larger scale. Eor many years, it lias been felt that the production of commercial pigs might be increased very considerably in tin's Dominion and, latterly, keen efforts have been made to secure wider overseas markets. The outbreak of disease in 'such -an important area is, therefore, most unfortunate, not only for the growers, but also for the industry as a whole. In the circumstances, it is nob surprising that tlirise interested In bacon-curing throughout the Dominion have felt it necessary to assure the public that all pigs for consumption u.ro killed under ioffioux-1 supervision in licensed slaughter houses.