London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
56
Annual Report of the London County Council, 1913.
The Council has then to slaughter the animal and conduct a post mortem examination. Should the
post mortem examination reveal the presence of tuberculosis in an advanced stage, only one quarter
of the valuation (as a tuberculous animal) is payable to the owner as compensation ; if the disease be
found not advanced, three-quarters of the valuation of the animal (as a tuberculous animal) is payable ;
if the animal is not affected with tuberculosis in any of the forms specified in the order the owner is
entitled to the full value of the animal plus £1. The carcases and hides become the property of the
Council, and any amount realised by their sale is paid into the County Fund. One-half of the compensation,
after deducting salvage receipts, is refunded to the Council by the Treasury. Articles are
also inserted in the Order dealing with the restriction of the use of milk, and the isolation of suspected
animals, together with the disinfection of the cowshed in which the affected animal is discovered.
Although the provisions in the L.C.C. (General Powers) Act, 1904, already referred to are not repealed
by the Tuberculosis Order of 1913, the Council now proceeds in respect of the seizure of animals and
compensation under the Tuberculosis Order.
During the year 1913, there were five inspections of the cows kept in the 171 London cowsheds and the results of the examinations of the veterinary inspector at these routine inspections are given in the subjoined table:—
| Details of Examination. | 1st Period. | 2nd Period. | 3rd Period. | 4th Period. | 5th Period. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30th Dec., 1912 to 10th Feb., 1913. | 11th Feb., 1913 to 22nd April, 1913. | 23rd April, 1913 to 2nd Aug., 1913. | 3rd Aug., 1913 to 19th Nov., 1913. | 20th Nov., 1913 to 28th Jan., 1914. | |
| No. cowsheds visited | 177 | 177 | 174 | 165 | 169 |
| „ revisited | 3 | 6 | | 22 | 7 | 5 |
| No. special visits under Tuberculosis Order of 1913 | Not in force | Not in force | 84 | 62 | 18 |
| No. of cows examined | 2,835 | 2,822 | 2,524 | 2,550 | 2,814 |
| No. of cows re-examined | 17 | 44 | 652 | 130 | 105 |
| No. with healthy udders | 2,764 | 2,741 | 2,447 | 2,489 | 2,765 |
| No. suffering from tuberculosis of the udder | 1 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 4 |
| No. suffering from tuberculosis with emaciation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| No. with acute mastitis | 8 | 17 | 19 | 13 | 8 |
| No. with chronic induration or hypertrophy | 22 | 20 | 28 | 20 | 21 |
| No. with atrophy of udder | 36 | 25 | 10 | 19 | 14 |
| No. with injuries to teats or udders | 4 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Tuberculous
milk; London
County
Council
(General
Powers) Act
1907. Part
IV.
Between 1st January and 30th April, 1913, 12 cows with tuberculous udders were slaughtered
under the L.C.C. (General Powers) Act, 1904. From the 1st May, 1913, when the Tuberculosis Order
came into force, to the end of the year, 46 cases were dealt with under the order, and of these 25
cows were seized and slaughtered. The remainder were not found on clinical examination to be affected
with tuberculosis within the meaning of the Order. On post mortem examination, 16 of the 25 cows
which were slaughtered were certified as suffering from advanced tuberculosis, while in the remaining
9 cases the disease was not advanced.
Part IV. of the London County Council (General Powers) Act of 1907 empowers the County
Medical Officer of Health or other duly authorised person to take, within and without the County,
samples of milk produced or sold or intended for sale within the County ; and, having obtained a
justice's order, in company with a veterinary surgeon, to enter any dairy from which milk is being
sold or suffered to be sold or used within the County, and to inspect the cows kept therein, and if the
Medical Officer or such authorised person has reason to suspect that any cow is suffering from tuberculosis
of the udder he may take samples of the milk of such cow. If it appears to the Council that
tuberculosis is caused, or is likely to be caused, to persons residing in the County from the consumption
of milk from any dairy, or from any cow kept therein, the Council may make an order prohibiting
the supply of such milk in the County until the order has been withdrawn, and any person contravening
the order is liable to a penalty not exceeding £5, and for a continuing offence to a daily
penalty not exceeding 40s. Appeal may be made against the Council's order.
On 11th February, 1908, the Council delegated to the Public Health Committee the authority
conferred by Part IV. of this Act, dealing with tuberculous milk, and fixed the 1st July, 1908,
as the date upon which the Act should become operative. The method of procedure adopted is as
follows : samples are taken by the Council's inspectors from churns of milk consigned from the
country to the various London railway termini, and these are submitted to the Lister Institute for
bacteriological examination. In the case of those samples in respect of which the examination proves
that there is evidence of the presence of tubercle bacilli, a clinical examination of the cows at the dairy
farm from which the milk is consigned is made by a veterinary inspector appointed for the purpose
under the Act, and cows found to have tuberculous udders are certified for the purposes of the Dairies
and Cowsheds Orders and copies of the certificates forwarded to the local sanitary authorities
concerned.