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attested herds there was a fall in the number of cattle dealt with under
the Tuberculosis Order. In 1950, a plan for area eradication was introduced.
Under this, areas were selected in which the percentage of attested
cattle was highest, and notice was given that in two years time these areas
would be declared eradication areas. After that date any herds not already
subject to the rules of the Attested Herd Scheme would be compulsorily
tested, with slaughter of the reactors and payment of compensation.
When such areas had been tested twice, at an interval of not less than
two months, and the reactors removed, the area would be declared an
attested area. In the meantime, other areas were to be selected and to be
treated similarly.
The first attested areas were the Isles of Scilly, Shetland, Cumbrae
and Arran. By the end of 1951, 31 per cent of all cattle in the country
were in attested herds. The first eradication areas—in South and West
Scotland and South Wales—were declared in October, 1952. These became
attested areas in March 1953. Since that time a succession of new
eradication areas have been declared, becoming attested six months later.
By October, 1959, Scotland and Wales became attested areas. By the end
of the year, 95 per cent of the ten million cattle were included in attested
herds. In that year only 119 cattle were dealt with under the Tuberculosis
Order. It is expected that by the end of 1960 the remaining parts of the
country will be eradication areas, then becoming attested areas, so that
the whole country will be one attested area.
This satisfactory position, of course, does not mean that all tuberculous
cattle have been eliminated; there is certain to be some residual
infection. There is, too, the possibility of re-infection by animals including
humans, so that regular tuberculin testing at intervals will be necessary
to ensure that the disease will not become re-established.
Non-pulmonary tuberculosis in humans, at one time so very common,
especially in children, was in most cases the result of consuming milk
infected with the tubercle bacillus. The virtual elimination of this condition
reflects the increased safety of milk, not only as a result of the eradication
of this infection in cattle, but also as a result of the practice of
pasteurising milk.
(B) MEAT
Slaughterhouses
Review oe position. The Slaughterhouses Act of 1958 provided
for the first time for minimum standards for the construction and
equipment of slaughterhouses. These standards applied immediately
to all new slaughterhouses on the coming into effect in 1958 of
the Act. Existing premises are to be brought up to these standards as
soon as possible, but without reducing the facilities available in an area
below the required minimum. Those premises which do not reach the
minimum standard are to be dealt with in two stages. In the first phase,
expected to be some two years, traders will be free to establish slaughterhouses
where they like, subject to standards and to Town Planning
requirements. In the next phase some measure of control will be exercised