London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1910
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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69
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
the samples were taken principally from churns at stations of the Great Western, the Great Eastern,
the Great Northern, the Great Central, the Midland, the Metropolitan, the London, Brighton and
South Coast, the London and North-Western, the London and South-Western, the North London,
and the South-Eastern and London, Chatham and Dover Railway Companies.
The following table shows the number ox samples taken during the year under review, the counties from which they were derived, and the results of bacteriological examination at the Lister Institute.
| County. | No. of samples taken from churns for examination. | No. of samples found to be tuberculous. | No. of samples found not to be tuberculous. | No. of samples the examination of which was not completed owing to accident and other causes. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire | 38 | 2 | 31 | 5 |
| Berkshire | 201 | 10 | 176 | 15 |
| Buckinghamshire | 85 | 3 | 76 | 6 |
| Cambridgeshire | 7 | - | 7 | — |
| Cheshire | 10 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Derbyshire | 393 | 47 | 324 | 22 |
| Dorsetshire | 43 | 3 | 32 | 8 |
| Essex | 172 | 30 | 90 | 52 |
| Gloucestershire | 74 | 9 | 72 | - |
| Hampshire | 79 | 12 | 51 | 16 |
| Herefordshire | 1 | - | 1 | — |
| Hertfordshire | 54 | 9 | 36 | 9 |
| Huntingdonshire | 3 | - | 3 | - |
| Kent | 54 | 1 | 47 | 6 |
| Leicestershire | 181 | 20 | 150 | 11 |
| Lincolnshire | 6 | — | 6 | - |
| Middlesex | 5 | - | 4 | 1 |
| Norfolk | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Northamptonshire | 94 | 5 | 80 | 9 |
| Nottinghamshire | 11 | 1 | 10 | — |
| Oxfordshire | 144 | 5 | 129 | 10 |
| Rutlandshire | 5 | — | 4 | 1 |
| Shropshire | 5 | - | 4 | 1 |
| Somersetshire | 167 | 20 | 132 | 15 |
| Staffordshire | 230 | 34 | 170 | 26 |
| Suffolk | 33 | 5 | 22 | 6 |
| Surrey | 57 | 5 | 46 | 6 |
| Sussex | 124 | 12 | 103 | 9 |
| Warwickshire | 38 | 8 | 30 | - |
| Wiltshire | 437 | 32 | 375 | 30 |
| Worcestershire | 4 | — | 4 | - |
| Total | 2,766 | 268 | 2,229 | 269 |
This table shows that out of 2,497 completed examinations of samples taken from churns consigned
to London, 268 proved to be tuberculous, i.e., 10.7 per cent. Some of the samples were
derived from churns containing milk from more than one farm.
The last annual report gave a similar account of 1,966 samples of milk examined during the
year 1909, of which 205, or 10.4 per cent., were found to be tuberculous.
The following table shows the number of farms visited, the number of cows inspected and the number of cows certified to have tuberculosis of the udder during the year:—
| County. | No. of farms inspected. | No. of cows inspected. | No. of cows with tuberculous udders. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire | 2 | 124 | 2 |
| Berkshire | 8 | 273 | 5 |
| Buckinghamshire | 3 | 91 | - |
| Cheshire | 25 | 367 | 1 |
| Derbyshire | 160 | 3,017 | 21 |
| Dorsetshire | 52 | 1,056 | 11 |
| Essex | 16 | 914 | 9 |
| Gloucestershire | 2 | 105 | - |
| Hampshire | 23 | 666 | 3 |
| Hertfordshire | 3 | 112 | 3 |
| Leicestershire | 20 | 571 | 9 |
Continued on next page.