TUBERCULOSIS IN PIGS

Southland Times, Issue 22999, 19 September 1936, Page 14

TUBERCULOSIS IN PIGS

AN INCREASE RECORDED DEPARTMENT TAKES SERIOUS VIEW A serious view of the extent to which pigs are affected with tuberculosis is taken by the Department of Agriculture in its annual report. An increase in the incidence of tuberculosis as found on inspection of slaughtered pigs has to be recorded, (states the report), the extent to which tuberculosis was found in any degree in the carcass being 16.78 per cent. In the great majority of cases, however, the infection in the carcass is slight, being found only in the throat glands. It is assumed that the chief initial source of infection in the pig is by means of milk, and the by-products of the dairy; perpetuation of the disease among the pigs on a farm can occur through contaminated pastures, pig-runs, etc. When the incidence of tuberculosis in pigs from any farm is found to be high, an examination of the cows becomes necessary, more particularly if skimmilk from home-separation be fed to the pigs. Attention to the sanitary conditions under which the pigs are kept must be included. The proper pasteurization of skim-milk on the farm before feeding to pigs is a matter that presents difficulty in accomplishment, the overcoming of which, however, would achieve a very important measure of control. During the year certain lines of attack on the problems of tuberculosis infection in pigs have been commenced. In view of the danger from dairy factory by-products—skim-milk and whey —a series of these are being collected for submission to the biological test for tuberculosis at the Wallaceville Laboratory. There is little risk from buttermilk, in view of the temperature at which the cream for butter-making is pasteurized, but whey is derived from milk that is only “flash” pasteurized to about 73 deg C.—too low to affect tubercle bacilli —and the cheese factories make butter for the first few weeks of the season from milk that is unpasteurized, their suppliers using the skim-milk fro mthis source for pigfeeding. This matter is likely to be a highly dangerous source of infection, probably much more so than is whey. It is obviously essential to find out to what extent these wheys and skimmilks are infective. To date a large number of whey samples from the Wellington and Auckland Provinces has been tested at Wallaceville; the skimmilk will be collected for testing at the commencement of the coming season. The final results should afford valuable information and assist in formulating a definite programme of attacking the problem of tuberculosis in pigs.