[Report 1962] / Medical Officer of Health, Devizes Borough.

  • Devizes (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1962
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1962] / Medical Officer of Health, Devizes Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    13/52
    Infected Milk: Seldom am I more frustrated than in the use of the Iviilk and Dairies (G-eneral) Regulations 1959, in the prevention of human Brucellosis or Undulant Fever. Vve know that the organism Brucella abortus causes contagious abortion in cows. Be know that man can contract an unpleasant recurring illness from drinking milk from cows infected with contagious abortion.V.'e know that pasteurisation ld.lls the infection in milk; the administrative difficulty is in proving that raw milk is infected. Lately S 19 vaccination of cattle prevents for the farmer the unpleasant economic aspect of repeated abortions of cows but it does not seem to prevent infected milk. In stopping the sale of infected milk I am required to be satisfied that the Brucella organism has been grovm from tv/o different samples. As the result takes six v^eeks to come, and the infected cows excrete the organism only intermittently, I am occasionally left v^lth one positive sample, or high titre whey agglutination tests, all of which make me suspicious, but I am in a position to prove nothing. It is high time that Brucellosis was eradicated from dairy herds and it is also in the public interest that the lay/ is amended to make this type of milk infection easier to deal with. Public Lavatories: Those of us who use the main trunk roads must all have been appalled at times by the filthy state of every lay-by. One only has to pull up for a stretch and a snack, to face in ten minutes, the unpleasant necessity of inspecting children's shoes and clothing before they get back into the car. A question was asked in the House of Commons, 11th March 1963, about this and the Member has my s3iTapathy. I was pleased therefore, that this new public health menace will be kept at bay in central Wiltshire at least, by the provision of three ney^ public lavatories in Devizes. The largest, on the Ireen, was open in time for the summer 'through' traffic and there is no doubt that many London drivers make Devizes their first stop, because they knoy/ these amenities are provided. Use of l.’.C.'s is free, hot and cold water is available at wash basins and electric points for shaving are provided. -6-