N.Z. VETERINARIANS AT WORK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3830, 9 August 1927, Page 12

N.Z. VETERINARIANS AT WORK.

Farmers are greatly indebted to the veterinarians in New Zealand for their activities in the past, and doubtless realise in some measure how necessary it is in the farmer’s interests that their standing should be recognised as on a parity with their medical or dental confreres. To this end we learn, through the courtesy of the secretary of the comparatively recently formed New Zealand Veterinary Association, that a general meeting of veterinarians from all over New Zealand was held last month in Wellington. The Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. O. J. Hawken, in opening, stressed the enormous amount of research work requiring to be done to overcome the loss occasioned by genital diseases of cattle. As dairying increased in the Dominion so did disease, and to whom could the dairy farmer- look if not the veterinary profession to find means of combating troubles which annually cost the country considerable

sums of money. Various papers were read and discussed at the meeting of interest to attending veterinarians, and were indicative of at least some of the work implied in their endeavours to locate the cause and cure of disease among stock. The opening paper was one on “ Distemper in Dogs,” presented by Mr Haugh, of Gisborne. The discussion elicited the following points: —(1) Keep dogs quiet and on the chain in a sheltered position for at least three weeks following the initial rise in temperature. Affected dogs must on no account be worked or they will die quickly, This applies particularly to sheep dogs. (2) Feed affected dogs well, but do not fight them to force medicine into them. Cod liver oil will be taken readily, and is very helpful in convalescence. (3) Keep sick dogs thoroughly isolated, or the disease will run through the pack. (4) Vaccine treatment at present in vogue is not attended by beneficial results. In connection with this it is of interest to note that the Nlill Hill research workers have been able to protect dogs with a vaccine prepared from the virus of the disease. A general warning to all dog owners appears necessary, as pneumonia, during the past 12 months in New Zealand, has been very virulent and has caused the death of many .valuable dogs. Distemper is the primary disease, the pneumonia being secondary. A description of rye grass staggers in horses was given by Mi’ R. H. Meade, of Palmerston North. With the seeding stage of rye grass horses and other

animals have been found to assume a

staggering gait in certain paddocks. Often such animals get down and find it difficult to regain their feet. By changing such stock on to a different paddock or a different class of country they soon benefit, and eventually become quite sound. Although rye grass was considered to contain the poisonous property setting up staggers, the meeting decided that experimental work should be carried out at the Wallaceville Laboratory to determine the variety of rye grass responsible. The question of careless dipping of sheep was referred to by Mr Marshall, of Balclutha, it being alleged that farmers lost sheep at times even though dipping has been carried out strictly according to the directions supplied by .the manufacturers of the dip. Analyses of portions of careases of sheep dying

tinder these conditions had been obtained by several members with negative results. Finally, as even non-poisonous dips caused the same mortality, the general opinion expressed was that the sheep became chilled. Symptoms where sheep actually died from arsenical poisoning following dipping or absorption through footrot lesions in the footbath are different from those dying from a chilled condition. Messrs Macgregor, of Dunedin, and Flphick, of Hastings, introduced the important subject of the supply of clean milk to cities. The former pointed out how dairies could be kept, and in some instances were kept, to ensure a clean supply from the point of view of numbers of germs actually in the milk when delivered to the farm gates. It was contended that the veterinarian, owing to

his training, was the man par excellence to judge the cleanliness of a dairy and the health of the udder supplying the milk. By continuous examination of cows’ udders supplying milk to large towns in New Zealand tuberculosis organisms had been almost eliminated from such supplies. To keep a check on tuberculosis in city supplies regular

composite samples of herd milk are forwarded to the Wallaceville Laboratory and there tested. Very few ever show the presence of tubercle bacilli, and where these organisms are found every cow in the herd is tested and reactors condemned. The .question of utensils and cleanliness generally was discussed, members holding that dirty teat cups of machines and pipes, etc., greatly tended to militate against a clean milk supply.

The cooling of milk after milking was deemed to be essential in order to minimise the bacterial content. It was held that a clean milk supply was easy to secure, independently of the age of the shed, provided the supplier adopted recognised modern methods of cleanliness, and was guided by the veterinarian within whose province this matter should be as far as the gates of the farm, and thereafter the public health authorities assumed control.

Messrs Hopkirk and Gill, of the Veterinary Laboratory, Wallaeeville, in their paper on “ Veterinary Research in New Zealand,” stressed several important matters anent diseases of cows. They stated, inter alia, that they were using a dead vaccine experimentally for contagious abortion. Results in South Africa warranted a trial of this method. The meeting condemned the use of live vaccines as liable to spread the disease rather than reduce the number of abortions. An experiment of interest in connection with cattle was the attempt to raise a clean herd of heifers on the same farm as a herd badly infested with contagious abortion. So far the clean animals are unaffected, but the test will come after calving, when the heifers will be milked in the same shed as the affected cows, but before them, and will be held in a separate holding yard. If this is possible farmers may do the same with very little extra trouble. Mention was made of contagious mammitis in herds, tlie view being strongly emphasised that injury to the udder both by milking machines and strippers was one of the principal factors in the spread of the disease. The pressure gauge was in many eases registering too highly. One member stated that where 1411 b was the usual figure employed mammitis made its appearance, but when 1211 b was used mammitis was rare. One other cattle experiment being carried out at the Wallaeeville Laboratory is the immunisation of calves with a new French vaccine to protect the herd against tuberculosis. This vaccine is an attenuated culture, and cannot set up the disease, but when inoculated will protect the calves for upwards of 12 months. Sheep experimental work was stated to be advancing. Arthritis or “big joints” in lambs, so prevalent in the South Island, has been tackled and the causative germ determined. Further experimental work in order to determine the portal of entry of the infecting organism has yet to be decided. The matter of ewe abortion was touched upon, while the cause of fluke in sheep and remedial measures successfully promulgated were referred to, and, finally, reference was made in this veterinary research paper to the work done in Central Otago on the lamb mortality question. Another’ interesting subject discussed included a paper by Mr Webster, of Masterton, entitled “ Inflammation of the Mouth of the Womb,” or technically “Cervicitis of dairy cows in relation to temporary failure of the cow to hold to service.” The foregoing may serve to show that our veterinarians put in a good deal of work of which there is nothing much to show from day to day. The fact remains, however, that we look to them to maintain the health of the stock in New Zealand and do everything possible to prevent the introduction from abroad of new diseases into the Dominion. Farmers generally are expected to take a lively interest in the doings of the veterinary profession, both in field and laboratory. They have, we are satisfied, the interests of those they serve very much at heart. In a final word, it may be mentioned that it is but four years ago since the veterinarians of New Zealand got together and formed an association. The Veterinary Surgeons Act was framed and put through Parliament, with the result that a qualified veterinarian has a standing in New Zealand and an organisation of his own similar to the other professions, and they meet annually to discuss ways and means of furthering veterinary science.