474 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



Take a concrete case, an outbreak of swine fever. An 

 inquiry into this may be conducted by a person with no 

 knowledge of pigs or disease. He is responsible for the 

 thorough disinfection of the place, and yet is ignorant of 

 the principles of disinfection because he has no training. 

 Whitewash and closing the premises comprise his action 

 in the matter, while to discuss the question of an inquiry 

 into the disease, how it got on the farm or into the dis- 

 trict, how many other farms are probably infected in conse- 

 quence of certain sales, etc., are matters of no importance 

 from his point of view, and yet these constitute the essence 

 of effective control.* 



The action from the Board of Agriculture to the Local 

 Authorities is based on these methods of lay control, 

 tempered here and there by skilled advice, which they are 

 not compelled to follow. 



Swine Fever is not controlled for many reasons, all of 

 which are questions which entirely come under the layman. 

 He is responsible for the diagnosis of the disease, and here 

 the dictum of the policeman carries more weight than the 

 opinion of the expert. He is responsible for the thorough 

 disinfection of the affected place, but does not realize 

 what disinfection means from the point of view of the 

 pathologist, and it is doubtful whether he believes a non- 

 disinfected place the size of a thumb-print, or less, may 

 start the whole disease afresh. 



The layman gives a license for movements under the 

 Market and Fair (Swine Fever) Order. He can allow 

 pigs to be taken to any part of an area not prohibited ; 

 he is appointed by the local authority as a 'fit and 

 proper person ' to determine whether pigs exposed for 

 sale have swine fever, and is allowed to give them a 

 permit in the form of a movement license to carry the 

 disease about with them, should his unskilled diagnosis 

 be at fault. 



As a matter of fact, the profession knows only too well 



* This is now partly remedied by the introduction of the few experts 

 just mentioned. 



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