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The Board are satisfied that it mast be accepted as a fact that Tuberculosis is
ransmissible from the cow to man by the agency of milk, but have limited the scope
of the present Order, as it is known that the particular forms defined disseminate freely
the germs of the disease.
The authorities charged with the administration of the Order referred to, are
required to cause every animal found by them to be suffering from one of the specified
forms of Tuberculosis, to be slaughtered, and to compensate the owner, such
compensation to be based upon the conditions of the animal at the time of slaughter,
and not upon its market value as a sound and healthy beast.
Should, however, post-mortem examination not confirm the ante-mortem
diagnosis of Tuberculosis, the compensation payable is to be a sum equal to the
full value of the animal, and a further sum of twenty shillings.
There is a point in this question of compensation, which although not of public
health interest, is one, I think, merits attention. For some time to come it is obvious
that the expenditure under the Order will be exceedingly heavy, as cows of all ages
suffering from tuberculosis of the udder and giving tuberculous milk, and all bovine
animals showing signs of tuberculosis with emaciation, will be brought within the
province of the Order, and as the local authorities responsible for its working are the
authorities from whom compensation will be recoverable, it is obvious that agricultural
districts devoting large areas to milk production and cattle raising, will be heavily
penalised. The milk and meat produced in such districts will doubtless be consumed
in districts not devoted to agriculture, and these will, therefore, reap a benefit
to which they have made no financial contribution. It would appear that compensation
from the Imperial Exchequer would have been a more equitable provision. Local
authorities will have refunded to them one-half the net amount payable by way of
compensation for slaughtered animals during a period of five years from the coming
into operation of the Order.
One of the advantages that should result from the Order is the diminution
in the incidence of Tuberculosis in the pig. These animals are frequently fed on milk,
and it is now generally accepted that it is from this source that they often contract the
disease.
BACTERIAL FOOD POISONING.
Report to the Local Government Board by Dr. W. G. Savage.
A summary of our present knowledge of the subject of Food Poisoning has been
presented to the Local Government Board in the form of a valuable report by
Dr. W. G. Savage.
In the past, especially during the summer months, instances of illness have been
brought to the notice of the Local Government Board in which certain characteristics
were common to each, and on investigation, these illnesses have been attributed to the
consumption of foodstuffs which have undergone some slight putrefactive changes,
and as a consequence have contained the products of putrefaction known as ptomaines.
Dr. Savage's investigations supply additional proof of what has been recognised
for some time past, namely, that illness following ingestion of apparently wholesome
foodstuffs, in a large number of cases is caused by the presence of certain pathogenic
organisms in the foods consumed.