ABSTRACTS AND REPORT.

Lesions were present in the trachea in fourteen cases, and in no case v<:ere they confined to this organ.

Lesions were noted in the spleen in thirteen cases. The number of outbreaks which recurred during the year on previously

infected p:emises was.thirteen, i.e., 13·4 per cent., as compared with 17·3 per cent. III the prevIOus year. (Annual Report of tIle Chiif Veterinary Officer, Board o.f Agriculture and Fishenes, for the Year 1914.)

ANTHRAX IN GREAT BRITAIN IN 1914.

THE total number of reports of suspected anthrax received from local authorities in Great Britain during the year was 2794. In 1745 of these suspected outbreaks the veterinary inspectors of the local authorities were able to declare that anthrax did not exist. From the remaining II50 suspected cases material for examination was sent to the La boratory, with the result that 722 outbreaks were declared to exist.

Since the Anthrax Order of 1910 came into force, the numbers of out­brelks recorded in each year have been as follows :-

Year. Outbreaks. 19 11 908 1912 743 19 13 594 1914 722

With reference to the increase of 128 outbreaks in 1914 as compared with 1913, it has been shown in former reports that within certain limits the incidence of anthrax in Great Britain depends upon factors which the Order cannot control, viz., the importation of infected material. Under the condi­tions which obtain in Great Britain an increase of 128 outbreaks in anyone year does not mean that anthrax is spreading.

The number of animals which died of anthrax in the year under report was 795, made up of 733 cattle,s sheep, 32 swine, and 25 horses. The death-rate per outbreak was I· I.

The following interesting cases of anthrax came to notice during the year :-

In February anthrax bacilli were found in a dressed carcase of beef by veterinary inspectors in an abattoir.

In March anthrax bacilli were also found in the hind-quarters of a year·old bovine in the same abattoir.

Both carcases had been slaughtered and dr(ssed in Ireland and consigned to Scotland for sale.

A bullock suffering from anthrax was bled by the owmr, and a dog drank a large quantity of the blood. Nine days later the dog died, and anthrax bacilli were found in specimens of its blood sent to the laboratory.

In another outbreak a cat gained access to the carcase of a heifer which had died of anthrax. The cat died, and anthrax bacilli were found in a specimen of its blood when examined at the laboratory.

In an outbreak of anthrax among swine, one sow died of the disease. The owner asserted that six fellow sows, which had an equal opportunity of becoming infected, showed similar symptoms to those displayed by the dead sow, but they recovered after a few days' illness. There was no veterinary evidence in support of the owner's opinion that the six sows had been infected and recovered. It is, however, not improbable.

ABSTRACTS AND REPORT. 237

In another outbreak seven cows died out of a total of twenty-one cows grazing in the Slme meadow, The veterinary surgEon in attendance reported that several of the remaining fourteen cows had temperatures up to 1070 F" and subsequently recovered.

These instances of animals recovering from anthrax are mentioned, as an idea is prevalent that the disease is invariably fatal.

In two outbreaks of anthrax, infection was thought to have been introduced in shoddy used for 'bedding animals which died. The infectivity of the shoddy used for bedding could not be experimentally demonstrated, as no shoddy suitable for experimental investigation was available.

That shoddy taken on to the farm from woollen mills sometimes contains anthrax bacilli was experimentally demonstrated and reported on in the Annual Report for 1905.

A horse which had been worked as a chain horse to a lorry employed in carrying hides in the Liverpool docks died of anthrax.

In another outbreak a horse which had been used to drag a carcase of a cow that had died of anthrax from the ship on to the grave died of the disease. (Ibid.)

TUBERCULOSIS IN SWINE.

DURING recent years the frequency with which tuberculosis has been found among swine which were suspected by their owners of being affected with swine fever, and consequently reported to the Board under the Swine Fever Order of 1908, has created the impression in the minds of the Board's veterinary officns that tuberculosis in swine is increasing. A record of sue h cases has been kept by the Veterirary Departml nt during the year 1914, and will be kept for a series of years.

During the past year tuberculosis was diagnosed on 633 different premises, on which were kept 8632 swine of all ages. Of these, 989 were found to be affected with this disease-l1'4 per cent.

The average number of swine kept on these premises was 13'6, of which on an average 1'3 pigs were returned as affected.

In 1914 there were 2,634,249 swine in Great Britain, excluding those owned by cottagers. A total of 989 swine affected with tuberculosis would not seem at first sight to be at all alarming, but it is to be noted that the 989 swine represent only those which were diagnosed as being affected on premises upon which swine fever was suspected to exist.

As tuberculosis in swine is not a notifiable disease, owners are under no obligation to inform the Board of the presence of the disease in their herds. No reliable figures are, therefore, available showing the full extent of the disease in Great Britain.

A further estimate of the extent of the disease may be fOlmed, however, by consulting the reports of the veterinary officers attached to large city abattoirs, as Glasgow or Birmingham.

In Glasgow 35,793 pigs were slaughtered during 1914, and of these f986 were found to be tuberculous; while in Birmingham 91,397 swine were slaughtered, and of these, 2408 were tuberculous: that· is, 3'5 per cent. of all pigs slaughtered in the two cities were found to be affected.

In both cities a certain percentage of the swine for slaughter came from Ireland.

If, then, 3'5 per cent. of all swine slaughtered in such cities as Glasgow and Birmingham, where meat inspection is highly organised, are tuberculous, it is fair to assume that even a higher percentage would be found affected