518 JoUliXAL OF THE DePARTMEXT OF AGRICULTURE. DeC, 1922. 



Report No. II. 

 VETERINARY DIVISION. 



F/iuripal I'eterinary Officer: J. D. Boethwick, M.E.C.V.S. 



1. General. 



The position with regard to the eradication of certain contagious 

 animal diseases in the Union cannot be regarded as altogether satis- 

 factory : this is largely, if not wholly, due to the inadequate field 

 staif at the disposal o'f the Division. Much of the blame for the 

 slow progress made in the eradication of East Coast fever undoubtedly 

 rests Avith the stock farmer, and until it is more or less generally 

 realized that the Government regulations are primarily a protection 

 to the stock farmer, progress will continue to be slow. On the other 

 hand, if every stock owner in the Union were imbued with sutficient 

 public spirit to regard himself as a potential administrator of the 

 stock diseases regulations, there is little doubt that contagious 

 diseases would very soon be under control. Meanwhile, we have to 

 face the fact that many stock owners regard the regulations as both 

 irksome and, to a large extent at any rate, unnecessary, and such 

 being the case there is only one alternative, and that is to increase 

 the field staff of the Division, thereby increasing the supervision of 

 dipping operations and so forth. While expenditure of public funds 

 must l>e rigorously controlled, economy can be carried too far: if 

 a more strenuous compaign were adoi)ted for a few years it would 

 do much towards cleaning up animal diseases throughout the 

 country. Even if tlie veterinary field staif were doubled for a brief 

 period, the results would warrant the extra exi)enditure. Sucli a 

 l)oli( V would be economical in the end ; the disease would l)e confined 

 within limited bounds, and, as a result, the supervision could be 

 relaxed to a certain extent over a large portion of the area at present 

 needing supervision, and the efforts of the staff concentrated in the 

 areas still infected. Both in the Transkeian Territories and Natal^ 

 the field stafi" was increased during the year, in the latter province 

 by 20 full and part time dipping inspectors and, in the Territories,, 

 by the addition of four inspectors and the creation of posts for six 

 senior inspectors to control certain districts, for which six o'f the 

 most exjjerienced inspectors on the staff" of the Division were selected. 

 The Division is, however, still under-staffed and, until more super- 

 vision is provided for dipping operations, satisfactory progress in the 

 eradication of East Coast fever will not be made, more especially 

 in Natal. 



2. East Coast Fever. 



Cape. — In March, 1922, an outbreak of East Coast fever was 

 discovered at Komgha, in the Cape Province. The position is 



