TUBERCULOSIS IN NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13453, 1 June 1907, Page 3

TUBERCULOSIS IN NEW ZEALAND.

* .EFFECTS OF DAIRYING. - METHOD OF SUPPRESSION. A DErAr.TJiEXTAi. leaflet on tuberculosis la ; ■Now Zealand, issued some time ago, showed that throughout. Europe the- percentage- of fat animal* found to I* tubercular after slaughter amounted to from 15 to 25 per cent. In Great Britain there was tittle reliable data, but of 10,000 animals slaughtered under the pleuropneumonia orders, 12 per cent, were found to be , affected, and. no, doubt, had more care been exercised in the search for tubercle, the percentage would have been found. to be much higher. In nearly nil countries th« disease is found to be on the v increase* amongst cattle, as . shown by: the . inspectors" . retards .. "from abattoirs. Even in Queensland, where a system of veterinary inspection of meat has boon in vogue for several years,, reports state that from 2£ to 9 per cent, of catt,N> have been condemned for thii .disease. During the three, years ending March'lost 236,657 fat bullocks and heifers have been. examined in New Zealand, and of these 8855 were found • affected with tuberculosis, or a percentage of 3.7. The statistics 'in regard to cows are not so reliable as & guide to tine general number affected throughout the colony. On the one hand, a butcher is naturally more careful in regard to his purchases when ho knows that a. thorough examination will bo made ere ho cau use the flesh, and on the other hand at several works cows are purchased in store condition, for the purpose of canning if they pass, the inspector," or,; fa:,li:ag that, for : manorial purposes. The latfciM? condition complicates tlio issue somewhat, but it may bo balanced to some- extent by tho ' former. At all events, out of 45,7*2 cows examined, 4718, or about 10 per cent., haw been found diseased. In both classes it is pleasing to record' that actual percentages do not show an increase, but, on the contrary, a slight! decrease-. Had the-ro been no increase, that aleho would have been a. subject for congratulation, when tho increase in other countries is considered, and this may I*3 fairly attributed to the. adoption by the. .'Department of tho methods of _ control recommended so long .ago, as 1897,, : ;' and in no small measure to the zeal of. the ; inspectors of stock in this particular part, .■■•. of their multifarious duties, aided greatly, everyone must admit, by the wise policy instituted by Sir John McKenzic, of paying; compensation for animals condemned, al- . though it must, be admitted the tendency in " some parts is for tho settlers to ...abuse that . by keeping an animal till -the last stages - before reporting—a most" reprehensible practice in every way. Of pigs, 124, have been examined, and 4913, or nearly ■, 4 per cent., found diseased, a cause, for some. alarm, seeing these animals are gene- _ . rally killed when not more than a year old. ; ' : Dairying is no doubt tho greatest indirect cause of the spread of .tuberculosis, • for it is that industry alone which induce an owner to preserve the life of an old, and probably diseased, milk-cow, to • ths detriment of the remainder of his herd and of 'tlio district .generally, in addition. to spreading 1 ; tuberculosis by, contaminated milk from the factory. -\'- : '.-■- ; - •■■■•■'■-.■•. ' Tho most alarming; feature in <iho extent of tuberculosis is, however, the percentage of swine affected. In ,these animals, ©specially those ' under review, killed while ;young.'for. pork or bacon, there ,is little likelihood of the operation of contagion from one diseased pig to -another.:' This is supported by the regions cf the __ body affected, showing clearly in tho ! majority of: cases 'transmission by food. Besides this, cows and pigs never come into direct contact, so that another vehicle for tho con- ; ■ veyance of tho ; disease germs must .bo looked for in order to comprehend the provalence amongst pigs in certain district*,; That the consumption of diseased offal '.may .play a part' is true, but considering that feeding of pigs on uncooked offal has been prohibited for tho' past four years, and that practically no slaughterhouse-fed swine can have . been included :in . our ; st&. ■•..■■ tistics, this factor cannot have operated The spread of the diso.aao-iiwplgft.-ifi ,undoubtedly duo to milk containing tho"'" ' * tubcrclo germ, and -on this hypothesis ; alone .- >■ can wo account for tho greater part' of the disease in swine inspected. That animals affected; with tuberculosis, in certain. ■ stages may give milk contaminated with the consumption" germ has been proved ■' timo and again, and that the skim-milk from such cows will contain most of tho germs, which are of greater specific gravity than cream, is obvious. .And this again leads to what- is no doubt , a great factor in the' transference of tho disease skiru-milk returned from tho factory and. croamery. Did each farmer receive his own skim-milk j the evil would not bo so grcii; but, as* j matter of fact, this rarely ofwurs, and the individual who may be in himself and his herd unoffending, is forced to feed his calves and pigs, on, his t neighbour's contaminated; skim-milk; -■ , ■ i ■ Mr. J. A. Gilruth, dealing with the methods of suppression of this disease, • says:—"When war" is being prosecuted bo rigorously on all sides against the tubercle | , microbe, at least when ii trenches on/ human health, it behoves farmers, in vioW( of tho facts related, not' only from the standpoint of human but of animal health, to consider the lines to bo adopted in the campaign against the same enemy when on another, : but parallel, ; route ;of ; invasion. As you are all aware, about teft years ago tho tuberculin test was hailed as the complete remedy, and those were not wanting in the colony who urged;tho authorities to use it universally. - It ; seemed *so ; easy. 'Test all cattle, destroy the reacting/ and ; tho matter's at an ettd.' Against thi»j however, I steadfastly set my face. I pointed j out - tho necessity for periodical : testing -.to '.; : . i do; any good, tho enormous expense it would entail for inspection, and, above all, the impossibility of testing the million head ! of cattle which are more or less in an untamed condition, and on which the tost | could not bo considered reliable. In addition, the impossibility of testing pigs wa.4 obvious, as was the danger : from, fowls, which wore also liable, and tho , possibility of infection from human beings, -j I recommended, instead, the employment of tuberculin in cases of doubt, and -on herds where the owner was anxious.to bo free of the disease, combined with tho systematic and periodic- inspection of all cattle-, particularly dairy cows, and the slaughtering of all those clinically affected to such an. extent as to be diagnosed by tho trained inspector. The obscure cases, recognisable only by the delicate tuberculin tests, could be left alone,, always provided there'-, was periodic inspection. Besides this, to'i obviate the danger of skim-milk, I urged compulsory notifications of-all' diseased ' conditions of the -udder, and sterilisation of skimmilk before distribution by the factory or creamer}'. To some extent mv recommendations have been carried out", "chiefly in the destruction of those clinically-affected- animals observed by the inadequate staff, of inspectors—with what result I have already ' indicated. _ But to keep the disease in statu quo is not enough. The periodic and ' systematic inspection of all cows supplying milk human consumption, , raw or manu- . - factored, is more ; obvious than :, ever ii». the interests; of public health, and fust a<« necessary as ever to the farmer from an ' economic point of view, while the sterilisa- - tion of skim-milk before being fed to calves and pigs would make a beneficent adjunct, and would prevent the spread of other cH«ccses besides. - ■