[Report 1963] / Medical Officer of Health, West Sussex County Council.

  • John Joseph William Neuner
Date:
1963
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1963] / Medical Officer of Health, West Sussex County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    109/200 (page 109)
    Sampling of Milk in Specified Areas In addition to the routine samples mentioned above, a further 104 samples were procured in the County (which is designated as a specified area in which the sale of milk is restricted to heat-treated [pasteurised or sterilised] and tuberculin tested milk) by the inspectors of weights and measures on behalf of the Department. The results of the examina¬ tion of the samples were satisfactory. Biological Sampling of Milk During the year, 309 samples were procured for biological examina¬ tion. Two samples were void on account of the premature death of the guinea pigs; of the remainder, one sample was found to contain tubercle bacilli. The result of this examination was not received until after the end of the year and the veterinary investigation of the herd was not complete at the time this Report was written. This single result emphasises the necessity for continued sampling of milk for tubercle bacilli, particularly when milk is consumed without heat treatment. The milk produced at the affected farm is now being pasteurised. The remaining 306 samples all proved negative when examined for the presence of tubercle bacilli but seven samples were found to contain brucella organisms. The investigation mentioned earlier into the presence of brucella organisms in cream resulted in a further 176 quarter samples being procured from the 44 cows in milk. During the year, four notifications were received from county districts that brucella organisms had been found in milk produced from herds within the County. These positive brucella results were com¬ municated to the Medical Officer of Health of the district in which the farm was situated and to the Divisional Veterinary Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, so that the milk could be diverted for heat treatment and the animals secreting the organism identified. Other Sampling Sampling of milk for chemical content and the sampling of other foods under the Food and Drugs Act, 1955 was carried out by the Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures. Bottle Washing at Dairies The regular examination at the dairies of washed bottles continued and the results are set out below. A high standard was maintained and, out of 1,076 bottles examined, only 24 were unsatisfactory. A pro¬ visional classification of the Public Health Laboratory Service, referred to on page 71 of the Report for 1961, continued to be adopted as a standard. The greater number of unsatisfactory bottles came from one dairy, where there had been a change of bottle washing machines. The re¬ placement machine had previously been in use in another dairy in the