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22
Three Months Ending December 31st, 1909.
Cowsheds visited 7
Milch Cows and Heifers Examined 106
Result of Examination.
Cows and Heifers in a Healthy Condition 105
Tuberculosis 1
106
Special Report made by the Veterinary Surgeon (J. E. Lloyd
Still M.R.C.V.S.) on the cows supplying milk in the district during
the Scarlet Fever Epidemic:—
At the request of the Medical Officer of Health (Dr. Rashell
Davison) I made in company with him a personal inspection of
every cow in the district ; six cows were found to be suffering from
a vesicular eruption on the teats. I was unable to decide if this
condition had any connection with the epidemic, but it is well to note
that I did not discover a similar condition in the cows of other
districts, and it was not present in my previous inspections. It
had entirely disappeared at my subsequent inspection. The
Vesicular condition of the teats was a purely local lesion, the
animals being in all respects healthy. The infected cows were not
in the same shed, and the eruption showed little tendency to
spread : in a shed of 30 cows, three only were affected : the teats
were treated antiseptically, and the hands of the milkers were disinfected.
The local lesion consisted of two or three vesicles the
size of a sixpence, oval or round, on the teats : they represented a
different appearance according to the stage they were in : those
that had not burst contained sero purulent fluid, and those that had
ruptured presented a raw surface.
Those vesicles that were situated near the base of the teat,
and by their situation had escaped rupture at the hands of the
milkers, appeared to go through a vesicular and crustaceous stage ;
eventually the crust or scab desquamated, leaving for a short
period a flat round area, red in colour.