MAMMITIS VACCINE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 23 January 1925, Page 4

MAMMITIS VACCINE.

A NOTE OF CAUTION

STATEMENT BY DR. REAKES

Earlier this week Dr. C. J. Reakes, Director-General of Agriculture, was m Hamilton investigating the supposed yaccine cure for contagious mainniit-is. The bacteriologist at the Waikato Public Hospital, who has prepared the formula, makes no extravagant claims for the vaccine, but a number of commercial men appear to have come to some arrangement with him to market the preparation. Dr. Reakes, while in Hamilton, went thoroughly into the whole matter, and had a talk both with the bacteriologist and others interested, and the keynote of a statement which the Director of Agriculture made, to an Auckland Star representative before leaving for the South was “caution.?’ In this statement Dr. Reakes said “Since coming to Hamilton. I have gone very carefully into the present aspect of the whole question of the vaccine, which is claimed to be effective as a preventative of contagious mammitis in dairy cows. “In previous statements given to the Press I have made it clear that the Department had, at the latter part of November, moved in the matter of giving this vaccine a thorough trial, in order to determine whether it was, or was not, of real value to dairy farmers. It is only just recently-, however, that a supply of it has been made available, and I am glad to say fchat now the proprietors have completely fallen in with the views of the Department regarding the unrestricted use of the vaccine at the Department’s own discretion. It is intended to. give it a series of complete and thorough tests, and it must lie fully realised that, as it is claimed that the preparation is a preventative, and not a cure, a considerable period of time, at least a year, or more likely- two years, must elapse before exact and reliable results can be obtained.

“Naturally, at the present stage, I can express no opinion as to whether the vaccine is, or is not, reliable as_ a preventative, and can only say- that the only attitude to adopt now is a cautious one. Contagious mammitis is a very troublesome disease, and many attempts have been made by scientists in other countries as well as in New Zealand to find a satisfactory and reliable means of vaccine treatment for it. So far, these have not been successful, and if this preparation now under discussion proves to be what is wanted no one will be better pleased than myself. It must not be thought that all cases of mammitis, _ which term really means inflammation of the udder, are cases of contagious mammitis. Our experience, based on the samples of milk from cows suspected of contagious mammitis, which have been examined microscopically, shows that less than 50 per cent, contain the organisims causing this disease.

“What may be termed ordinary mammitis, not caused by contagion, is veryprevalent, and it must be clearly understood that any vaccine which proves on test to be efficacious in preventing the contagious farm of disease cannot be expected to protect cows against this ordinary form, the causes of which include improper handling of milking machines, want of cleanliness in them, or insanitary conditions in and about yards. Dirt is one of the dairy farmer’s greatest enemies, and it is a potent factor in causing udder disease, as well as in depreciating the quality of dairy products, and I can say with confidence that the greater the amount jOf cleanliness in and about the milking shed, and in the milking machine, and the better the control of the pressure in the machine, the less will be the trouble with ordinary mammitis.”