View report page

45
INSPECTION OF BRITISH MEAT.
As will be observed by the following table, the amount of "British" diseased meat
discovered in the Markets rather increases than lessens. It was hoped that the introduction
of the Public Health (Meat) Regulations, whereby (a) notice of intention to slaughter
animals, and (b) notification of diseased or suspected carcases are required to be given by
persons who slaughter animals, would result in better inspection in Rural Districts. It
appears that the Regulations which, if properly administered, would protect the public,
are not carried out. It must seem illogical to meat importers that, while inspection of their
goods is rigorous, much of the meat produced in this country appears to be uninspected.
If we may judge from observations in the markets, a considerable amount of diseased meat
must, in some districts, pass into human consumption. From a Public Health point of view,
the ideal would have been that all carcases and offal should be carefully inspected at the
place of slaughter and stamped, the stamp indicating both home production and freedom
from disease than, as at present, inspection on slaughter should be neglected and considerable
effort devoted to mere grading of meat, some of which may not even have been thoroughly
examined as to freedom from disease.
A considerable amount of difficulty and work is being caused by deposit of pig carcases
minus heads in the markets. There is no indication as to whether the head has been detached
by or with the authority of a meat inspector at the place of slaughter and the diseased parts
destroyed or detached by the owners; if the latter, whether the diseased parts were destroyed
or passed into human consumption under circumstances in which little, if any, attention
is given to inspection. This class of carcase requires the special and individual attention
of section inspectors, and entails much work in that every carcase must be "split down"
and the bones, serous membranes, kidneys and lymph glands examined. The remedy suggested
is that, where the head has been detached by or under the authority of an inspector,
an official stamp should be placed on the carcase. In such case, when unstamped carcases
minus heads are received, it would suggest that the owner knew the carcases were diseased
and notification had not been given to the Local Authority at the place of slaughter; such
owner would be liable to prosecutions (a) for non-notification at the place of origin, and
(b) for depositing diseased meat in the markets.
Meat inspection in this country cannot be complete until all carcases and organs are
examined at the places of slaughter and the meat passed officially stamped.
TUBERCULOSIS IN PIGS.
In previous reports (e.g., 1926 and 1927), mention was made as to the macroscopical
appearance of the lesions in the lymph glands of pig carcases; as was ascertained from some
owners, pigs which had never been fed on cow's milk or grazed in contact with cows still
presented lesions. It was assumed that the source of infection was diseased fowls, and
that investigation as to the correctness of this assumption would be an interesting and important
piece of research work, both from a scientific and commercial point of view.
Dr. A. Stanley Griffith, M.D., of the Field Laboratories, University of Cambridge,
has typed the tubercle bacilli from the lesions taken from pig carcases. Dr. Griffith was
assisted by Mr. R. L. Cornell, B.Sc., M.R.C.V.S., of the Institute of Animal Pathology,
Cambridge. A full account of their work appears in the "Journal of Comparative Pathology
and Therapeutics," Vol. XLIII., pp. 56-62, March, 1930.
Briefly, out of 103 submaxillary lymph glands examined, on attempted culture, eight
cases remained sterile; of the 95 cultures obtained 63, or over 66 per cent., were
identical in characters with those of tubercle bacilli of bovine origin, 31, or 33 per cent.,
exhibited the characteristic, moist, slimy growths of the typical avian tubercle bacillus,
and the remaining one presented the luxuriant, dry, coherent growths of the human type of
tubercle bacillus.
Dr. Griffith and Mr. Cornell form the following conclusions:—
1. Natural tuberculosis in swine may be the result of infection with bovine, avian
or human tubercle bacilli.
2. The chief cause of swine tuberculosis is the bovine tubercle bacillus.
3. The avian tubercle bacillus is responsible for a considerable proportion of the cases
in which the tuberculosis is apparently confined to the lymphatic glands of the alimentary
tract.
4. These findings corroborate those of workers in America and on the Continent of
Europe, and support their recommendation that pigs and poultry should not be allowed to
run together over the same ground.
G