STOCK ECZEMA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23102, 29 July 1938, Page 9

STOCK ECZEMA

REPORTS OF LOSSES EXAGGERATION ALLEGED AUCKLAND DISTRICT TOTAL [by telegraph—ow.v correspondent] WELLINGTON, Thursday A claim that losses of sheep as a resull of the recent outbreak of facial eczema had been exaggerated was made by Mr. J. S Jessep, vice-president of the- New Zealand Sheepowners' Federation, at the annual meeting the federation in Wellington to-day. He said that in 19.'i0, when facial eczema broke out, the farm supervisor, Mr. H. Symes, took immediate steps to cope with it, with fairly successful results. With the experience of three years ago, the same course was followed this year, with the result that, although many areas of East Coast Trust lands had been badly affected, the losses ivere nothing like what reports would lead one to believe, Mr. Jessep said. Alarming reports had been made concerning sheep in the Waikato that could do no good to the New Zealand meat trade. The outbreak had certainly been severe, but reports that the loss exceeded lfc million in the Auckland district was a gross exaggeration. In the entire Auckland sheep district, stretching from Cape Runaway, Taupo, Taumarunui and across to the West Coast and up to the far north of Auckland, there were only 3.800,000 sheep in all. lie added, lit the districts badly atler-ted there were not more than 1,000,000, and, allowing for losses among cattle, the estimate of li million could be cut down by at least 70 per cent.

.Mr. .Jcsscp stilted that lie had had sonic experience in the frozen meat trade and could say without hesitation that many good ewes had been killed that were not seriously affected by facial eczema. The procedure followed by the farm managers of the Kast Coast Trust was that, as soon as a shoe]) was discovered to be affected, it was dosed strongly for the liver and then put into any kind of rough feed or fed on hay. The outbreak of rash 011 the face and head was an aftereffect and could be dealt with easily/