1910.] The Anthrax Order of 1910. 673 



removed. Accordingly, the new Order provides that in reported cases 

 of the disease, if the veterinary surgeon employed by the Local Autho- 

 rity is not satisfied by his examination on the spot that the case is 

 not one of anthrax, the carcase shall forthwith be destroyed by fire, 

 or, if this is not feasible, buried with the usual precautions, and the 

 place where the carcase has lain or where its blood has escaped should 

 be disinfected at once by the Local Authority in precisely the same 

 manner as if a positive diagnosis of anthrax had already been arrived 

 at. Animals known to have been in contact with the dead animal are 

 also treated temporarily as having been exposed to the risk of infec- 

 tion of anthrax, and kept under detention. 



If the veterinary surgeon employed by the Local Authority is satis- 

 fied from his examination that anthrax does not exist, the fact is to 

 be communicated to the Board and to the occupier, and the notice of 

 restriction served on him is to be withdrawn by the Local Authority. 



Although where the veterinary surgeon is not so satisfied, the 

 carcase is to be destroyed, and the premises are to be treated for the 

 purposes of preliminary disinfection as if the disease were present in 

 that carcase, it is not until the diagnosis has been confirmed by the 

 Veterinary Officers of the Board that the full provisions of the Order 

 as regards the creation of an anthrax-infected place are brought into 

 force. The forms provided by the Board upon which weekly returns 

 as to anthrax are to be made by Inspectors of the Local Authority are 

 only to be used where the existence of disease has been confirmed in 

 the above manner. 



The veterinary surgeon, acting on behalf of the Local Authority, 

 in dealing with a case of suspected anthrax is required to take and 

 examine such samples of the blood or other fluid of the animal or 

 carcase, or of the tissue of the carcase as may be necessary for further 

 investigation, and it is contemplated that he should himself arrive at 

 an opinion as to whether or not disease exists and communicate it to 

 the Board in the report he is required to make to them, but he will 

 not embody the opinion in a certificate issued under the Acts. Some 

 notes as to the equipment necessary for veterinary surgeons, the 

 method of taking blood from the carcase of a dead animal, and the 

 preparation of slides for microscopical examination will be found in 

 Appendix II. to this letter. In order to facilitate the business of 

 dealing with these reports and samples, it would be convenient that 

 the specimen form given in Appendix III. to this letter should in all 

 cases be followed by the officers of the Local Authority, to whom 

 the necessary forms should be supplied by the Local Authority. The 

 Board will be glad if your Local Authority will issue such instruc- 

 tions to the veterinary surgeons employed by them as will ensure that 

 the above procedure is carefully carried out in each case. 



The Order also provides that the owner of a suspected animal or 

 carcase is at once to be served with a notice calling his attention to 

 the precautions which the Order (Article 3) requires him to take, and 

 that a copy of the notice is to be forwarded to the Board. 



In view of the specially dangerous nature of the disease, the Board 

 consider that the responsibility of securing the most thorough dis- 

 infection practicable should remain with the Local Authority, and as a 



