HUGE LOSS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 210, 4 August 1934, Page 10

HUGE LOSS

NEARLY HALF BRITISH DAIRY HERDS DISEASED.

Important proposals for the improvement of Great Britain’s milk supply are contained in the report of the Committee on Cattlo Diseases. The committee was appointed by the Prime Minister in November, 1932. as a committee of the Economic Advisory Council, with Sir Frederick Gowlanif Hopkins as chairman. The three principal proposals promising an improvement of the milk supply are :• — , Extension of routine veterinary inspection. Active policy for the eradication of bovine tuberculosis. Grant to large urban authorities of the right to require pasteurisation of milk other than that produced from herds free from tuberculosis. The report emphasises that the dairying industry is of great economic importance, and the reduction of disease on a considerable scale would bo a material gain for the nation. The milking life of a dairy cow is only half that which might bo expected under ideal conditions, with the result that thero is an annual loss of over £3,000,000. Fiftyeight per cent, of the cows passing out of dairy herds arc disposed of on account of disease, and the loss of many ol the remainder is indirectly attributable to disease. Tho four principal diseases are bovine tuuerculosis, contagious abortion, mastitis and Johnne’s disease. Tho proper feeding and care of dairy cattle are of the greatest importance, the report adds, and the Government should bring education to bear in this field. The incidence of bovine tuberculosis among cows is probably as high in Great Britain as anywhere else in tho world. At least 40 per cent, of cows are infected with it in such degree that they will react to the tuberculin test. Cattle are probably as frequently infected with contagious abortion as with tuberculosis. The disease does not cause death, but is responsible for serious loss to farmers by causing the loss of calves and of milk, and by rendering animals sterile. The incidence of Johnne’s disease varies greatly throughout the country. In some districts it is increasing and is causing considerable anxiety. It results in emaciation and at length in death. There is no known cure.

Thirty per cent, of the milking cattle in Great Britain are probably infected with mastitis, other than tubercular mastitis. The report declares that bovine

tuberculosis is responsible for over 2500 deaths annually among the human popu-

lation of Great Britain, and for a still greater amount of serious illness. Most bovine tuberculosis in human beings is attributable to milk.

At least five cow's in every 1000 yield milk infected with tuberculosis.

As tho result of the mixing of such milk with pure milk, over 5 per. cent, of samples from individual herds arc infected. A much larger percentage of the milk conveyed in largo containers is infected.

In London an investigation by tho London County Council showed that- 3.2 per cent, of samples of milk retailed are \infected. In the four large cities of Scotland the corresponding percentage has beon estimated at 5.26.

Approximately 100 outbreaks of epidemic disease, attributable either to mastitis among cattle or to subsequent infection of milk by those handling it. have been reported in Great Britain since IEO3.

The most common epidemic diseases car- ; ried by impure milk are scarlet fever, en- ! teric fever, diphtheria, paratyphoid and I septic sore throat. The committee states that the evidence available to-day leaves the conviction that any recognisable changes of quality induced in milk by pasteurisation rightly i conducted are too small to outweigh the | great advantage inherent in the protection from infection which the treatment secures and in the public confidence it in- . spires. Children reared on milk should be I supplied with fruit juice, whether the | milk is raw or pasteurised. 1 The committee is of the opinion that the total eradication of bovine tuberculosis from all herds is the only coin- I nlete solution of the problem of tubercu- ! lous milk. Accordingly, it recommends

that veterinary services should be extended ; that a higher price should be offered to farmers who have eradicated disease from their herds; that a levy be rnado on the industry to provide a bonus on milk from herds free from 'tuberculosis. and that a standard of cleanliness should be universally insisted upon. The cost of carrying out the recommendations would l>e borne bv the farming community, the milk industry and national and local taxpayers.