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In the Ministry's view, despite the fact that no case of transmission to man has been recorded,
all carcases of rabbits and hares infected with the disease should be regarded as unfit for humai
consumption.
A large number of rabbits dead or dying from myxomatosis have been seen on waste land in the
Tilbury Dock area.
ARGENTINE OFFAL AND CYSTICERCUS BOVIS
During the routine inspection of imported frozen offal from the Argentine at No. 6 Cold Store,
Royal Albert Dock, your Meat Inspector reported as follows
Ox Tongues 198 tongues examined —
3 tongues affected with cysticercus bovis.
1 tongue affected with actinomycosis.
The finding of cysticercus bovis in imported meat has been, up to now, a rarity, although the
presence of this disease in beef slaughtered in the United Kingdom and on the Continent has
been known for some time and was the subject of a Memorandum issued by the Ministry of Food
in November, 1948.
The disease is caused by a parasite (Taenia saginata) commonly known as the beef tapeworm
which is 10 to 25 feet in length and lives exclusively in the intestine of man. It is not fatal but
exhibits a variety of symptoms such as nervousness, loss of appetite, loss of weight, stomach
pains and digestive disturbances. A person harbouring this tapeworm and defecating in the
neighbourhood of farm buildings may be responsible for the infection of a large number of cattle,
in which the worm assumes the larval stage — cysticercus bovis.
It has been established that cysticercus bovis will survive 14 to 16 days after slaughter of the
host. Cysts may, however, be destroyed with certainty if carcases are frozen at 20 F. for at least
three weeks, a period which may be shorted to 4 days if the carcase is divided into retail joints
prior to freezing: the chilling of meat at 29°F to 30°F for three weeks is, however, not now
regarded as adequate.
The application of these facts in Port Health work is as follows
(a) Frozen Meat cargoes. These are always carried at a temperature less than 20°F. and for a
period of three weeks so that if any of the meat or offal is affected at the time of shipment, the
cysts will be destroyed before arrival in the United Kingdom.
(b) Chilled Meat cargoes. Consignments of chilled meat are arriving in ever increasing
quantities and, since these consignments are carried at 29°F to 30°F a temperature at which the
infection is not destroyed, it is obvious that a careful examination of chilled meat must be carried
out.
In view of these circumstances a Conference was convened at the Central Office which was
attended by the Economic Counsellor to the Argentine Embassy, representatives from two importing
firms of Argentine meat and two members of the Veterinary Staff of the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food.
The affected tongues were displayed and the seriousness of the findings amply demonstrated —
the diagnosis of cysticercus bovis was confirmed microscopically.
The Argentine Economic Counsellor requested that a detailed report of the circumstances be
forwarded to him in order that he might take up the matter with the appropriate authorities in the
Argentine.
It may here be mentioned that the packages containing the offal each had affixed to them the
Argentine 'Official Certificate' which should mean that the animals from which the offal was
derived had been examined ante and post mortem and found to be free from disease, as required by
the Public Health (Imported Food) Regulations. The Certificates gave the numbers of the
Establishments in the Argentine from which the offal had come and these were given tothe
Economic Counsellor to aid him in his investigations.
Since this was a matter likely to affect other ports in the United Kingdom your Medical Officer
lost no time in informing the Medical Officers of Health of Liverpool, Glasgow, Bristol and Southampton,
of our findings. The Medical Officer of Health of the City of London was also informed.
It was, however, considered that since this was a matter affecting the United Kingdom as a
whole representations to the Argentine could better be made through the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food. A full report of the affair was therefore sent to the Ministry by whom, it is
understood, prompt and appropriate action was taken.
In the meantime arrangements were put in hand at the docks for a routine inspecti on to be
made thenceforth of chilled meat from the Argentine for the presence of cysticercus bovis but up
to the time of writing this report no further infection has been found.
Your Medical Officer considers that the timely discovery of diseased meat as described above
reflects great credit on the skill and vigilance of the meat inspector concerned and, incidentally,
gives an interesting practical illustration of the kind of danger to health from imported meat which
your Worshipful Committee's new scheme for meat inspection at the docks is designed to
avoid.
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