[Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, East Sussex County Council.

  • East Sussex (England). County Council
Date:
1951
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1951] / Medical Officer of Health, East Sussex County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/34 (page 8)
    Food and Drugs Acts and Milk and Dairies Regulations. As from the ist April, 1951, i facilities were made available at the Public Health Laboratory, Brighton, for routine bio-' logical examination of milk samples. The establishment of this service enabled sampling of raw milks to be undertaken oni more comprehensive lines, effecting a valuable contribution towards the safeguarding of supplies and eradication of diseased animals. * Reports received in respect of infection by tubercle bacilli and Brucella organisms were forwarded, in each case, to the Divisional Veterinary Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture! and Fisheries and to the Medical Officers of the districts concerned. Where necessary,! arrangements were made for the heat-treatment of the milk pending investigations. 1 During the period 198 samples were submitted, involving 103 sources of supply, and the presence of tubercle bacilli was reported in seven cases. I'T Investigations were conducted at the farms concerned by the Divisional Veterinary,! Officer and this department and, as a result, in three cases cows were slaughtered underJ the Tuberculosis Order, 1938, and four cows were found to have been removed for slaughter^ at knackers’ premises. Notifications received from other authorities included ten cases of tubercle-infected [ milk supplies. Subsequent investigations resulted in eight cows being dealt with under the] Tuberculosis Order and two cows were found to have been slaughtered by knackers. Reports were also received in respect of three calves, which on slaughter at abattoirs' were found to be affected with congenital tuberculosis. Investigations at the farms resulted in the dams being identified and dealt with under the Tuberculosis Order. In each case infection was confirmed on post-mortem examination. Administration in all sections of this work has been facilitated by the support received from interested authorities, the Animal Health Section of the Ministry of Agriculture and ! Fisheries, the Ministry of Food, the Milk Marketing Board, and local authorities concerned.^' whose continued co-operation has contributed towards satistactory working arrangements.®^ Part VII ol the Milk and Dairies Regulations, 1949 (Regulations 18, 19 and 20), deals.’ ^ with infection of milk and related matters and the action which may be taken in various sets of circumstances. In each case the action must be taken specifically by the medical officer of health of a district, and it will be appreciated that, in this county where the majority r® of the medical officers ol county districts have no appointed deputies, difficulty might arise if the medical officer is not available owing, say, to being absent on leave. During 1951 discussions took place about how this point might be met. (Section 4; of the National Assistance Act, 1948, similarly empowers the medical officer of health 0: i a sanitary district to issue a certificate which will enable his authority to take action in th( ' case of certain persons living in insanitary conditions.) The Milk {Special Designations) {Pasteurised and Sterilised Milk) Regulations, 1949-50 On the 1st January, 1951, ten establishments held licences for the pasteurisation of mill and during the year two additional licences were issued. Routine inspections of plants and dairy operations have been maintained, twelve plants, three are H.T.S.T. and nine are Holder types. Of th( ^ iss The following table shows the results of^tests of samples taken from all types 0 pasteurising establishment plants:— Class of Milk. No. of Samples. Appropriate Tests. No. of Samples. Passed. Failed. Invalid. Tuberculin Tested Milk (Pasteurised) 73 Phosphatase 73 — — Methylene Blue 73 — — Pasteurised .. 241 Phosphatase 241 — — 239 I