THE PREVENTION OF ANTHRAX.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 6

THE PREVENTION OF ANTHRAX .

The reasons which have induced the Government to rev-erse its decision io

erect bone sterilising works at the Bluff and Auckland, with a view to the prevention of the introduction of anthrax germs, were, it may be assumed, fully presented by Sir Joseph Ward in the statement that was communicated by him to us last week. They are three in number. The principal reason is that the countries that export bonedust to New Zealand submit the material to treatment in digesters before it is shipped ; and the other grounds upon which the Government seeks to justify its recent determination are that it has been argued that the effect of a second sterilisation of the bonedust after its arrival in New Zealand would bz. io rob it c-f tome .»' the fertilising power of the manure, and that it is certain that the cost of the bonedust to the farmer would be sensibly increased if the Government were to insist upon a sterilising process being undergone in the colony. The desire to keep the pries of manure down will be keenly appreciated by the farming community, and when Sir Joseph Ward says thai if bone sterilising works are established m the colony the cost of bonedust will be increased by 20s to 303 a ton. to settlers, to whom the material appears to be a necessity, he certainly sets up a prima facie case for an inquiry as to whether the prevention of further importations' of anthrax into the colony can oe satisfactorily secured by any other means. And his case is materially strengthened if it be a fact that, supposing the bonedust to be adequately sterilised in the <xmntry of export, a second process of sterilisation would tend to reduce the vakie of the fertiliser. This point seems to be so doubtful that l he farmers in the south have not yet raised it. But if such an advance in the price of manures ss, Sir Joseph Ward estimates, would result from the institution in the tolohy ct a process ox sterilisation, that is in itself sufficient to justify the consideration of the question whether the introduction of anthrax germs can be adequately prevented by the adoption oi other measures that would not have the effect of enhancing so considerably the price of fertilisers. The Government itself is evidently disposed to considerfavourably a suggestion that the colony should send its own officers to India and to Australia, whence the bonedust that comes to New Zealand is received, and that they should personally supervise the sterilisation of the material before it is shipped. Whether the safeguard that is thus proposed would be adequate is probably a matter regarding which experience worild supply the only satisfactory test. There seems to be very little doubt that in India the regulations with respect to sterilisation are quite ineffective. Mr Gilruth, chief veterinarian for this colony, in one of his reports quotes a.n extract from a letter from a firm of Indian shippers, who say that " at the present moment it is opeaa to anyone to ship wholly unsteanied or partly steamed (bone) meal under the designation of ' guaranteed steamed meal,' " and Veterinary-major Raymond, superintendent of the Civil Veterinary Department of Bombay, enlightens us as to the causes of the inefficacy of the regulations when he says that coolies of low caste handle the bone and meal in the factories, and that " the general difficulty of getting coolies to do reliable work, even under elaborate supervision, cannot be denied." Whether the presence of Government inspectors from

New Zealand would ensure the absolute sterilisation of the bonedust, when the work is carried out under these conditions, is a- question to which an affirmative answer can scarcely be given with any degree of confidence. It seems to us, however, a sufficient condemnation of the suggestion that it has never occurred to the experts in the employment of the State — trusted men who liave^ a -very high reputation — to propose anything of the kind. O#_ the contrary, Mr Gilruth has' unequivocally affirmed the, imperative necessity for the ■"adoption of the measures which the Government has decided not to take. He has repeatedly urged the Government to require complete sterilisation of shipments of bonedust upon their arrival in the colony. That is. he has insisted, the only alternative to the prohibition of ' the importation of bonedust. In his last annual report he v/rites almost despairingly on the subject. " Apparently it is ordained,' he says, " that annually a. section of my report should be devoted to this disease (anthrax) " — although years ago, when he pointed out the " simple means of prevention," he felt satisfied that it would be " but a- passing item in the list of colonial diseases." In 1900, he observed that the occurrence of fotxr distinct outbreaks of anthrax in the colony in the preceding year, traceable to the importation of infected bones, demonstrated the inadequacy of precautions which had been adopted in consequence of the first recorded outbreak of the disease in the colony in 1895. Raw bones were, upon being landed, taken in sacks to premises where they were steiilised under pressure at a temperature of 250 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours under the supervision of an officer of the Department, and manufactured bones were only permitted to be landed on the production of a certificate thatr they had been so treated before they were shipped. These regulations have, however, clearly proved ineffective. Anthrax has made its appearance in some district or other in the colony, and generally in more than one district, annually for the last five years. The disease is considered to be identical with the murrain, that, as recorded in the Book of Exodus, was one of the plagues with which the land of Egypt was visited, a.nd it is described by Mr Gilruth as "this most deadly a,nd persistent of all animal diseases ; " and it is a question for serious consideration whether it is worth the while of the State, for the fear otherwise of raising the price of fertilisers, to embark on an experiment which may be quite as ineffective as the regulations of the past have been, or whether the Government should not act on the recommendation of its expert adviser who has told it that the only step, short of prohibition of importation of bones, by which the introduction of anthrax germs ca.n be prevented is the sterilisation, of cargoes at State works upon their arrival in the -colony. Mr Gilruth complains, in effect, in the report submitted to Parliament this year that his warnings on the subject have been ignored. His views have, however, never been quite so openly flouted in the past as they have been in the most recent determination of the Government. His recommendation is being deliberately disregarded, and a course of action is proposed which he has impliedly looked upon as unworthy of consideration. We cannot think that the Government is acting wisely in thus rejecting the advice of its expert officer.