ANTHRAX SPREAD

Otago Witness, Issue 3594, 30 January 1923, Page 21

ANTHRAX SPREAD

ALARM IN NEW SOUTH WALES. (From Oue Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, January 18. Some alarm has been caused in New South Wales by the occurrence of several cases of anthrax infection. The fact that these cases have occurred in widely separated parts of the Sltate has drawn attention to the menace of a serious outbreak of the disease. That there is a real danger is evidenced by the fact that of five batches of shaving brushes recently submitted to the health authorities for examination three were infected with anthrax, and the remainder belonged to types previously found to be infected. In New South Wales since June, 1920, there have been 22 cases of anthrax infection, all apparently acquired from shaving brushes of Eastern manufacture, and six of them have proved fatal. Nevertheless the importation of brushes from Eastern countries is unrestricted, providing that a certificate of sterilisation is supplied with the goods. Doubt as to the efficacy |of disinfection is evidently general amongst importers, as, since the lifting of the embargo on brushes from South-Eastern Asia, none have entered the country. The danger of infection, therefore, lies principally in Japanese brushes, which have been in the country for some time. These as a rule are difficult to locate, and, being seldom marked or labelled, often cannot be distinguished from similar brushes of other manufacture. It is suggested that the most effective method of combating anthrax would be to encourage the manufacture of brushes in Australia, as among Australian animals the disease is rare.