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66
GLANDERS.
In my last Annual Keport I referred to the circumstances under
which, two deaths from glanders had occurred at Colville Mews in
May, 1879, and the consequencies to which they gave rise, viz.:—an
increased activity on the part of the Metropolitan Board of Works, as
"Local Authority" under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act,
which led to the disclosure of many cases of glanders and farcy in
the Metropolis, and an increased severity on the part of magistrates in
dealing with offences under the Act.
The subject of glanders has been before your Yestry, more or less,
ever since the occurrence referred to, and lias recently acquired an
additional interest from the death of several valuable horses in your
Yestry's stud. In March last, a statement having been made to the
effect that within six months (viz., to the end of February), 116 horses
had been slaughtered in Kensington on account of glanders and farcy,
your Vestry requested me to report as to the actual number of deaths,
and as to the "bearings of the subject on the public health." After
full enquiry, I was enabled to report that the occurrence of glanders
in horses appeared to have had no "bearing on the public health"
during the period in question, for no death in man had been reported
from the disease or from any cause of a suspicious character, which, on
any ground of probability, could be traced to the poison of glanders;
and that the statement of 116 horses having been killed, confirmed as
it apparently was by the "Vice-President of the Council," in the
House of Commons, was an accidental exaggeration, for the actual
number was only 64 (glanders 44, and farcy 20): certain cases
belonging to another parish having been erroneously included in the
Kensington list.
The recorded deaths from glanders in 1879 were 57, and from farcy
24—total 81; of which only 5 took place in the first quarter : but
there is reason for believing that concealed cases had occurred at
Colville Mews between January and March, it having been ascertained
that in one set of stables ten horses had died or were slaughtered
prior to the death of the child, which led to the discovery of the
outbreak. In the Metropolis, generally, the horses destroyed on