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27
It might be thought that Tubercular disease would be more
common in town cowsheds than in those of the country districts, but
this is not so. Indeed, it has been shown in the case of Liverpool,
that Tubercule was found twice as often in samples of milk coming
from the country, as in samples from the town.
As a result of the special examination above detailed, the
London County Council approached the Sanitary Authorities of the
Home Counties with the request " whether, if examination should
show that milk sent to London from your district is Tuberculous, your
Council would be willing to supply the London County Council with
information and veterinary reports respecting the condition of the
cows, byres, etc., whence such milk is drawn." This question your
Council answered in the affirmative, thereby voluntarily adopting the
course which would become compulsory should legislation follow the
recommendations of Paragraph 14 of the Report of the Royal
Commission.
In the interests of Public Health, however, I am of opinion that
the Council would be wise to adopt more active measures, on the lines of
the London County Council. I propose, with the Council's permission,
to take periodical samples for submission to the Jenner Institute of
Preventive Medicine, both of our own supply and of that which comes
from the country. In addition, I recommend the Council to arrange with
the Veterinary Inspector to inspect quarterly the cows of the Borough
with a view to ascertaining the presence of Tubercular disease of the
udder. The cost of this would be small indeed when compared with
the advantages to be obtained. The Royal Commission found that
" The milk from cows with Tuberculosis of the udder possesses a
virulence which can only be described as extraordinary," and as it ispatent
that the milk of the cows in our district is chiefly distributed
to our own population, each focus of infection discovered will be
fraught with direct sanitary gain.
In this connection another preventive measure may be considered,
namely, the "sterilization" of our own milk supply. The Council is
now supplying the Plaistow Hospital, and will doubtless supply the