Report of the Departmental Committee on Foot-and-Mouth Disease, 1952-1954.
- Great Britain. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Committee on Foot and Mouth Disease.
- Date:
- [1954]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report of the Departmental Committee on Foot-and-Mouth Disease, 1952-1954. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![(d) If any animal is found to be infected at the freezing plant, the whole troup is isolated and no carcase (or offal) from that troup may be exported to Great Britain ; and the by-products are required to be submitted to suitable treatment to prevent any possibility of contagion. (e) Packings, coverings and wrappings of meat for export are required to be entirely new. (f) All places which may have become infected must be cleansed and disinfected under the supervision of the Government Veterinary Inspector at the freezing plant. (g) All vehicles carrying livestock are required to be cleansed and disin- fected after every unloading. 28. We investigated the working of these restrictions when we were in Argentina. We found that, owing to the comparatively small number of veterinary officers employed, and the long distances to be travelled, the veterinary inspection at the farm of origin is not always made, but a declara- tion by the farmer is accepted instead. With that exception the agreement seems to be observed. But these precautions cannot wholly avert the risk that meat may occasionally be exported from animals that were incubating foot-and-mouth disease at the time of slaughter. Veterinary inspection imme- diately before and after slaughter should normally result in detection of the disease if it has developed, but cannot be relied on to reveal whether an animal is incubating it. There is thus a danger that among the carcases exported to this country may be those of animals which have picked up infection while on their way from farm to freezing plant, or of animals which have left a farm while in the incubative stage, before disease has been detected there. The only complete protection against this would be to quarantine the animals at the freezing plant, and this is obviously impracticable. 29. So long as we have to import meat from South America, and so long as foot-and-mouth disease is endemic on that Continent, there must always be a risk that meat coming from there may occasionally be contaminated. Two British Veterinary Officers are stationed in Argentina to assist in securing observance of the contro] arrangements, and we were impressed by the efficiency and tact with which they seemed to us to be performing a difficult and delicate task. 30. We must now turn to the measures taken in this country against the danger of outbreaks caused by the presence of the virus in waste food. As we have said, this danger arises in two ways. One is that contaminated food may be fed to pigs in swill. The other is that it may be left in a place where susceptible animals may have accidental access to it, or where birds, dogs or vermin may get at it and drop pieces within reach of susceptible animals, as happened in Scotland in 1952 with disastrous results. (See paragraph 140.) 31. It was to meet these dangers that the Boiling of Animal Foodstuffs Order was made in 1927. This Order* (as amended in 1947) is still in force. It requires that swill shall be boiled for an hour before being fed to animals or poultry, and that before boiling it shall be so kept that no animal or poultry shall have access to it. Up to 1942 no other precaution was required by law against the risk of conveying disease by feeding con- taminated swill. And indeed, if the Order were invariably strictly observed, no other precaution would be necessary: it would provide a complete ~* The Diseases of Animals (Boiling of Animal Foodstuffs) Order of 1947 is réproduced as Appendix X.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32172631_0020.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
