476 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



Parliament under which animal diseases are controlled, but 

 it is here convenient to draw attention to the weakness of 

 some of the Orders issued under the Act, and especially 

 those which refer to disinfection. For Cattle Plague it is 

 considered sufficient to use soap and water for the hands, and 

 an unnamed disinfectant of no strength for the boots and 

 clothes. For Pleuro-pneumonia there are no instructions laid 

 down. The virus of Foot and Mouth disease is disinfected 

 by water and lime wash. For Sheep Scabies scouring is to 

 be adopted and lime wash, with freshly prepared lime, ' or 

 some other disinfectant approved by the Inspector,' who may 

 be a cobbler. It was not until the Swine Fever Order of 

 1894 was pubhshed that carbolic acid as a disinfectant was 

 mentioned, and here for the first time it is laid down that 

 an infected market or similar place can only be declared 

 disinfected by a Veterinary Inspector. Under the Swine 

 Fever Order of 1901 it is directed that excreta, litter, etc., 

 are to be mixed with quicklime and ' effectually removed ' 

 from contact with swine. 



There is every loophole here for leakage ; bearing in 

 mind that the disease is largely spread by excreta, some- 

 thing more than the layman's idea of effectual removal 

 is needed. It would have simplified matters to have said 

 that it was to be burned, and thus have left no excuse for 

 dealing with it in any other way. 



In glanders the Local Authorities prescribe their own 

 disinfectant, but, except in markets and horse repositories, 

 it is not applied under any supervision ; in the latter case 

 a Veterinary Inspector's certificate is required. The Board 

 prescribes water scouring and lime-wash for floats or vans 

 used in conveying diseased horses, but stables are left to 

 the Local Authorities who have the power to leave them 

 to the owners. 



On the other hand, in Anthrax the most careful, almost 

 minute instructions for disinfection are given ; the work has 

 to be carried out under the direction of an Inspector (lay- 

 man) ; for the first time hot water is prescribed for washing ; 

 freshly burned lime as a wash mixed with chloride of lime 



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