Report of the Departmental Committee appointed by the president of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to enquire into foot-and-mouth disease.

  • Great Britain. Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Foot-and-Mouth Disease Committee.
Date:
1912
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Departmental Committee appointed by the president of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to enquire into foot-and-mouth disease. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    40/370 (page 16)
    25 January 1912.] [ Continued. the spore of anthrax it is probably doubtful whether the disinfection would be sufficient to destroy it. 204. Considering possibly the costly results both to our stock owners and to the country, both the cost and the labour would not appear to be excessive P—The cost and the labour would be thrown on the shipowners, and one would have to justify one’s action in calling upon them to undertake it. 205. With regard to the Hay and Straw Order of 1908, can you tell me what is the meaning of the ex- ception No, 2 (b), Manufactured straw not intended for use as fodder or litter for animals? In what form, or what are the chief forms in which manufactured straw would be imported ?—Well, one has had in mind the question of the articles like straw hats, baskets possibly made of straw, bottle covers; straw is largely used for covering wine bottles. These sort of articles one had in mind in making that exception. 206. And then (d), Hay or straw which is autho- rised to be landed for use otherwise than as fodder or litter for animals. Where you grant a licence, what sort of straw would that be as a rule?—Well, principally straw used for making horse-collars, and also for thatching purposes. All that straw is specially har- vested straw; it is of no use if it is put to a threshing- machine. It is hand threshed, and brought in for making horse-collars and for thatching. Those are the two principal objects it is used for. 207. A great deal of that straw is used for horse- collars and also for the commoner kind of saddles. I happen to know there is a considerable industry in the manufacture of cheap saddles in certain parts of the North of England. That does go to a large extent upon farms ?—In the saddles. 208. In the saddles and collars ?—Yes, but we are taking steps with the straw itself, it has not left the factory in which it is imported; it is used actually and made up into the collars and the saddles before it leaves the place. 209. Do you think that is a possible source of infection ?—I should have thought a very remote possibility. 210. Is there any reason why it should be disin- fected before it is used for these purposes P—I have never considered that point. 211. I ask this because there is a strong feeling, at any rate in a certain part of England at the present moment, that this is the chief source of the recent outbreaks'?—Straw imported for the making of horse- collars or saddles P 212. Yes.—I have got no evidence to support that theory, and I should have thought once covered by the covering of the saddle, or the covering of the collar, the chances of it conveying infection to the animal would be most remote. 213. From the Hay and Straw Order of 1908 you say Norway is excluded ?—Norway is excluded. 214. Is Norway the only country in Europe that is excluded ?—I think I may answer that question in the affirmative. At the time the Order was passed Denmark and Sweden were free of foot-and-mouth disease and they were excluded, but now they have been added, and I think I may say confidently Norway is the only country in Europe from which straw can be imported. 215. Do you think that safe to exclude a country which has a land frontier to another country that is known to have a disease >—In the absence of any out- break in Norway, I think so. 216. Would there be any great hardship in making the Order apply to every country in Europe ?—I have not before me the figures of the importation from Norway. I believe they are comparatively small, as a matter of fact. the Committee that the horse owners—this applies to hay rather than to straw—are feeling very much the increased price of hay at the present moment, and are urging the Board to some alteration of the Order, in order that they might get hay from those countries to forage their horses. The dangeryf feeding horses with such hay is probably very ork, but the difficulty is to make certain where the hay will go to after it is landed. 217. You mention that the United States and Canada are omitted from this Order, There is a con- siderable importation of hay from Canada and the United States. I do not know that one can distinguish which is actually of Canadian origin, because a lot of it may come through the United States ports, but between the two there is a considerable quantity of hay imported. Do you think there is any source of danger in such hay ?—None whatever, because ve are quite satisfied that both the United States and Canada are very free from foot-and-mouth disease. In the event of the disease appearing here the Foreign Hay and Straw Order would be made to apply to the same district as that to which the Prohibition Order applied. 218. I want to ask you whether it is possible to test the effect, to attempt to discover the source of foot- and-mouth disease by feeding to sound animals, upon a farm where an outbreak takes place, feeding-stuffs that have come from a foot-and-mouth disease infected country P—If you chanced to feed them upon infected material they would no doubt get foot-and-mouth disease. 219. But that would be the object of the feeding, to ascertain. You have ascertained by experimental purposes, but the object, of course, would be to ascer- tain whether it is possible for the disease to be com- municated as the result of feeding these articles. Is not that possible and desirable P—Itis certainly possible ; I should not have thought it was desirable. I should have thought that the fact that if the material was contaminated it would be communicated to the animals was an almost obvious one. If you did make such an experiment you might end in setting up an additional diseased centre in this country. You would have to take the animals to some place where you would feed them with a view to deliberately setting up an addi- tional disease centre, with all its attendant risks. 220. On another part of the same premises, or on adjoining premises ?—But we kill them at once, you see, now. Your suggestion is that we should keep them alive and try and infect them with foot-and- mouth disease in order to test the feeding-stuff. 221. Keep certain sound animals, or apparently sound animals, alive for the purpose of testing the effect of feeding with suspected feeding-stuffs P—If you use animals on the premises at the time of the outbreak you would not be perfectly certain that your experiment would be of any value, because the animals might be infected beforehand. 222. No, but if you take a certain number of appar- ently sound animals, not necessarily on the same premises, and feed them with the same article on isolated premises, that surely would be the most natural test to apply in order to ascertain whether the feeding- stuff was the source of the disease P—Well, you have to assume that that consignment of feeding-stuffs was equally affected throughout. The possibility is that infection is introduced in that way, that there is only a small portion of that consignment affected, and that you might go on feeding for months without getting any effect. 223. You do not think that is worth trying ?—I do not think that is worth trying—it is more a profes- sional question than an administrative one. 224, I suppose you are aware a large number of the leading veterinary surgeons in the country have sug- gested that as a proper course to take ?—I have not seen the absolute expression of that opinion, but it may exist. 225. You would not approve of it P—I would not approve of any procedure that would set up another diseased centre if it could be avoided. 226. You mentioned a list of articles imported into this country, set out in the Report of the Inspector of 1900 as possible sources of infection. Amongst them I notice butter. There is a largely increasing amount of butter, is there not, imported into this country ?— I believe so, yes. 227. Largely from Denmark ?—TI believe. so. I have not got the figures before me, but I am quite pre- pared to accept it as a fact. . 228. Where there have been very serious outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease?—The disease has been