TUBERCLE IN MILK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23688, 21 December 1938, Page 14

TUBERCLE IN MILK

A million tuberculous cattle in England! exclaims Sir Frederick Hobday, in his book, “ Fifty Years a Veterinary Surgeon.” And an average of 30 to 40 per cent, of all the dairy cows are tuberculous. Such is the statement generally accepted to-day. Is it not a national scandal that such should be able to be said of Great Britain in 1938? Of all the facts veterinarians know about animal diseases this one, which is so prominent among the list of diseases communicable from animals to man, provides the most convincing evidence of the urgent need of reform. Children and invalids drinking the milk of these cows contract turberculosis, and Governments have come and gone through generation after generation, while it is only now that a really serious effort is being made to wipe out this blot on the record of guarding public health. Even now—however serious the belated effort—it will take years before we can take a glass of milk and be certain that it contains no tubercle germ.