CATTLE DISEASE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 8034, 6 December 1886, Page 3

CATTLE DISEASE.

Except as affecting the importation of English stock, the foot and mouth disease has, happily, possessed only a theoretical interest for Colonial stockowners. Since the first settlement of this Colony, however, foot and mouth disease have been prevalent at intervals in Great Britain, and although prohibition has been in force only a few years, there is no instance on record of the disease having appeared in this Colony. But it is to be borne in mind that the duration of the voyage has been very much shortened, and it may be that the danger of the disease being introduced is proportionately increased. This, however, is a matter of doubt, as it seems to be a quite undecided question among scientific men how long the germs of the disease retain their vitality. There is no record of the disease having appeared in England previous to the year 1839, but it had long before that been very prevalent on the Continent. At the date of its first appearance in England, there was a legislative enactment in force against the importation of foreign cattle on account of other diseases; but untanned foreign hides, not disinfected in any way, were allowed to be imported in great quantities. For a long time, and in fact till quite recently, the periodical outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease were regarded as the result of spontaneous generation, and no special efforts were made to keep it out of the country, or to confine it to localities in which it made its appearance. It was not till the appearance of the cattle plague, which, from its violence, made stringent measures absolutely necessary, that it was discovered that foot-and-mouth disease could be successfully dealt with in a similar manner. Experience and study point distinctly to the conclusion that the disease has _ its origin in a specific germ. In an article which appears in the current number of the journal of the Royal Agricultural Society the germ theory is accepted as being proved beyond a doubt, but unfortunately there is nothing to show how long the germs may retain their vitality. If this were known with certainty, we should then know with what decree of safety the prohibition laws now in force in the

Colonies could be removed. To quote from .the article above named :—"The germs of foot and mouth disease may be conveyed from one diseased animal to another from a long distance, but it seems to remain a debateable point whether the infection can be carried in the air even for a short distance. The conclusion some scientific men have arrived at is that the duration of infective power in the virus does not as a rule last for many days ; but occasional instances have been brought, to notice in which the contagion has revived so as to present all the characteristics of a new outbreak, and this a very long period after the disease has existed actively.” Professor Fleming gives an instance of this kind in his work on “ Sanitary Science and Practice.” A farmer owned two farms in an out-of-the-way place some distance from each other, and where there was very little traffic. The stock on one farm had been severely attacked by foot-and-mouth disease, hut the other farm was free from it. The disease disappeared on the infected farm, and nothing more was seen of it for five months. At the end of this period one of the hay racks used on the farm which had been infested was taken to the healthy farm, and in a short time the cattle which fed from that rack took the disease. Accepting the facts as stated, here was a preservation of the seeds of the disease for a period of five months. Another case is on record of an outbreak which occurred at AmpthiU Park, in Bedfordshire, in 1885, which was attributed to the fact of the cattle having had access to some hay which had been brought over from Berlin, some nine months before, and in which the furniture of Lord AmpthiU had been packed. The furniture had remained unopened during that time, and the outbreak of the disease occurred simultaneously with the opening of the packages and the distribution of the hay. Considering that the disease was prevalent in England at the same time mother places, this story of the Ambassador’s furniture strikes us as being a trifle far-fetched.

If it is to be accepted as a scientific fact that the germs of the disease may remain quiescent in a hay rack for five months, and in furniture packing for nine months, why, then, it seems to us that merely prohibiting the importation of stock affords os very little protection. The subtle poison of the disease may be found lurking in almost any article which reaches our shores from the Old Country. If it keeps company with Her Majesty’s Ambassador at Berlin, it is not likely to eschew the society of travellers of more humble rank, and every immigrant from the agricultural districts must be looked upon with, grave suspicion as not only a possible, hut very probable, centre of contagion. The only wonder is that the disease has not made its appearance here long ago, in spite of all the terrors of the law. When foot-and-mouth disease was at its worst in Great Britain, we must have received a considerable number of immigrants from districts where it was most virulent, and surely if the hay rack and the furniture, packing, and other cases of a somewhat similar character given by writers on the subject were scientific facts, and not mere coincidences, it is scarcely possible that this country could have escaped infection. There is, of course, the presumption that the climate and general conditions of this country are not favourable for the development of the disease, and that the poison germs may have been brought here, but remained innocuous, If such is the case, we may import stock from infected countries with impunity, but unfortunately there is no proof, and, what is more, tht condition of the country in this respect may undergo a change. It be established beyond a doubt that the infection may be conveyed intermediately—that is without the actual contact of healthy with diseased animals. Those in attendance on diseased animals may convey the disease ; but in whatever way conveyed, the length outline during which the poison may retain ks vitality is the most important point for Colonial stockowners, and one upon which we have as yet no unquestionable information.