672 



The Anthrax Order of 1910. 



[NOV., 



Local Authority to the Tables in Appendix I. to this letter, which 

 give (1) the number of Counties in Great Britain from which anthrax 

 was reported by Inspectors of Local Authorities, the number of out- 

 breaks reported, and the number of animals returned as attacked in 

 each year, 1887-1909, together with the corresponding figures for the 

 first half of the current year ; and (2) the number of outbreaks of 

 anthrax in each county in Great Britain during each year from 1S99 

 to 1909. 



It will be observed that since the year 1899, when the Anthrax 

 Order now in force was made, the number of outbreaks of anthrax 

 reported by Inspectors of Local Authorities has steadily increased, until 

 in 1909 the total reached 1,317. The figures available for the first half 

 of the current year show at the same time that a decrease in the 

 number of outbreaks during 1910 is not to be looked for. In his 

 recent reports the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Board has drawn 

 attention to the difficulties met with in regard to diagnosis in anthrax, 

 and has shown there is good reason for the belief that in the past 

 cases have not infrequently been certified as anthrax, when a careful 

 examination by highly skilled specialists has failed to reveal any posi- 

 tive diagnostic evidence of the presence of the disease. It is highly 

 probable that the statistics available are to some extent misleading, 

 and that the real position is not so unfavourable as it would appear 

 to be. 



At the same time the position revealed by the returns cannot be 

 regarded otherwise than as unsatisfactory, and the time appears to 

 the Board to have arrived when some further effort should be made 

 to bring the disease under greater control. As anthrax is communic- 

 able to man and may prove fatal, and as the disease may be spread 

 by the effusion of the blood of the diseased animal, which may also 

 contaminate for an indefinite period the ground on which it is spilt, 

 it is essential that nothing shall be left to chance in dealing with the 

 carcase of a suspected animal. Experience has shown that in the 

 majority of cases a satisfactory definite diagnosis cannot be made 

 immediately by the veterinary surgeon on the spot. A careful micro- 

 scopical examination of a sample of the blood of the dead animal is 

 often necessary before a positive diagnosis can be arrived at, and to 

 secure this an interval of time may be necessary. At the same time, 

 unless the veterinary surgeon is satisfied from the history of the case, 

 and an examination of the external lesions of the carcase, or from a 

 microscopical investigation made immediately and on the spot, that 

 anthrax does not exist, it is obviously important that precautions as 

 regards the suspected carcase should be taken forthwith, in order that j 

 no avoidable risks shall have been run in the interval, should the j 

 suspicion ultimately be confirmed. 



The New Order is framed with a view to enable the Veterinary 

 Officers of the Board to examine the evidence upon which the veter- 

 inary surgeon acting on behalf of the Local Authority has based his 

 diagnosis, and if necessary to make further experimental investiga- 

 tions, before any reported outbreak is finally accepted as an undoubted 

 case of the disease, and for this an interval of time, which might in 

 some cases extend to several days, is requisite. In these circumstances 

 it is essential that any possible sources of risk should at once be 



