The PRESIDENT-In that case I think we ought to be guided by the opinion of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, and order the immediate slaughter of the whole of the cattle in these two sheds,
Mr. LADDS-I may say that in many cases these cattle are worth over $200. In some cases they are worth $100.
The PRESIDENT-Have you any idea of the source of infection P
Mr. LADDS-No; I have no means of telling
Dr. CLARK proposed and the PRESIDENT seconded that the whole of the 20 cattle be alaughtered and their carcases buried.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
An amendment was proposed by Hon. R. D. ORSMEY, and seconded by Mr. OSBORNE, to the effect that only the diseased cattle should be | slaughtered and that the Colonial Veterinary Burgeon should be authorised to have the others
laughtered if they contracted the disease.
Two voted for the amendment and two against.
The PEESIDENT gave his casting vote against, remarking that in a case like this he thought they should be guided by their skilled adviser.
The motion was accordingly carried.
MORE CASES OF RINDERPEST. On 14th March a special meeting of the Sanitary Board was held, for the purpose of considering another outbreak of rinderpest. The President (Dr. J. M. Atkinson, Principal Civil Medical Officer) presided. There were also present the Vice-President (the Hon. F. H. May, Captain Superintendent of Police), the Hon. R. D. Ormshy (Director of Public Works). Mr. E. Osborne, and Dr. Clark (Medical Officer of Health): Mr. C. V. Ladds (Colonial Veterinary Surgeon) was also present.
Dr. CLARK read the following report from Mr. Ladds:-"I have the honour to report for the information of the Sanitary Board that an outbreak of rinderpest has occurred in a shed at Mr. Kennedy's Causeway Bay Stables. in which six cows and one calf are housed. Three of the animals are infected. I recommend that all these animals be slaughtered at once, and that compensation to the amount of $1,370 be paid for them under the provisions of Sections Band 5 of Ordinance 17 of 1887. There are also 31 animals which are housed in another part of the premises, but as they at present show no symptoms of the disease, I make no recommendation concerning them."
The VICE-PRESIDENT remarked that last year Mr. Ladds claimed to have cured a cow at the Dairy Farm at Pokfulam by serum treat- ment. He did not think they slaughtered any
at the time.
Mr. LADDS-There were five slaughtered at the time. I only treated the last one.
The VICE-PRESIDENT-And the treatment
was successful. You claimed to have cured it P Mr. LADDS-I did cure it, there is not the Blightest doubt.
The VICE-PRESIDENT-If these are isolated from the remaining 31 why not treat these ?
Mr. LADDS-Because I have not the means to treat them, sir,
The VICE-PRESIDENT-Some of these are ot even affected.
Mr. LADDS-Three of them are.
The VICE-PRESIDENT—And the other three are not ?
The PRESIDENT—It is difficult to say they are not.
The Hon. R. D. ORMSBY asked why the three healthy ones could not be sent away to the other end of the island—to Stanley or Shau-
Iwan ? It would give them a chance,
Mr. LADDS-You run the risk of infecting the district to which you take them.
Tho Hon, R. D. ORMSBY-Mr. Kennedy has Jately leased a large piece of land beyond the botton mill for farming purposes. Why not send his healthy cattle there ?
Mr. LADDS That is not more than 100 yards
The Hon. R. D. ORMSBY-It is a great deal further.
Mr. LADDS-200 yards, The Hon. R. D. OEMSBY-It is a good quar- ter of a mile away.
The PRESIDENT-The disease is so contagious tha: any cattle in the same shed as the affected
cattle are almost sertain to contract the disease,
Mr. LADDS-So they are.
The PRESIDENT That is the reason why at home they are always killed at once.
Mr. LANDS-To treat cases it is necessary to have an animal which is recovering from the disease and also to have proper appliances. The appliances I have sent home for hare not ar. rived.
Mr. OSBORNE said that when they discussed this matter at the last meeting it was decided to slaughter all the animals in the same shed— both those affected and those which were not. The point that occurred to him was this: These animals -speaking of the six and the calf-have been recently in contact with the whole of Kennedy's herd. They were not kept inside the shed until the disease broke out. Therefore it was fair to suppose that the whole of Keunedy's herd would be in the course of time infected with the dis- ease, so that they had got to be prepared, if they recommended the slaughter of the healthy animals, to pay for the slaughter of the whole of Mr. Kennedy's herd. He should like Mr. Ladds to give them an explanation as to why he considered it necessary to slaughter the healthy animals instead of removing them and thus saving the cost of slaughtering them. He understood that they had to pay the full cost of a sound animal when it was slaughtered and half the cost of a diseased animal.
Mr. LADDS said that these animals were not running loose all over the place. They were in sheds and were kept there all the time. If the disease broke out in one shed there was no reason why it should go over the whole of the sleds.
Mr. OSBORNE-Are the cows always tied up in the shed P
Mr. LADDS They are in loose boxes. Dr. CLARK-Can Mr. Ladds tell us whether there is any commnuication between the cattle at Kennedy Street and at Causeway Bay. If there has been communication it seems to me we may expect the whole 31 to be infected.
Mr. LADDS thought there was no doubt there had been communication before they were aware of the existence of the disease.
Mr. OSBORNE said he did not like the idea of the colony paying Mr. Kennedy the value they should first try to segregate the sound of the whole of bis sound cattle. He thought animals from the diseased oues and slaughter
the diseased ones. It seemed to him that if the other cattle which were in the same shed as the diseased ones were taken a long distance away
from the cattle in the other sheds there was no reason why the disease should break out among
the rest of the bord.
with Mr. Osborne.
The VICE-PRESIDENT was inclined to agree
The Director of Public Works had mentioned that Mr. Kennedy bad some land a considerable distance from this shed, and there was no reason on earth why he should not put up mat-sheds and remove his healthy cattle there.
Dr. CLARK said the first thing was to declare the shed infected, and he proposed that this be done.
The PRESIDENT seconded, and the motion was carried.
Dr. CLARK proposed that the six cows and the calf in the shed in question be slaughtered and the Council informed of the fact.
The PRESIDENT seconded.
The Hon. R. D. ORMSBY said that to be con- sistent with what he did at the last meeting he would move as an amendment that only the diseased cattle be slaughtered, and that Mr. Kennedy be advised to remove the healthy cattle as far as possible from the infected shed.
Mr. OSBORNE seconded.
|
|
Subsequently the Hon. R. D. Ormaby with- drew his amendment in favour of one proposed by the Vice-Prosident, and seconded by him. self, to the effect that only the diseased cattle be slaughtered and that Mr. Kennedy be ad- vised to remove the 31 cattle in the infected area as far eastward as possible.
The amendment was carried.
On the motion of Mr. USBORNE. seconded by PRESIDENT, it was decided to authorise the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon to slanghter the remaining four animals in the infected shed as as they show any symptoms of the
This was all the businemis podingung und mult beradi and
soon
disease.
|
[March 18, 1899,
A meeting of the Hongkong Sanitary Board was held on the 16th March. The chair was occupied by the President (Dr. J. M.
Principal Civil Medical Offi er), and thereon,
were
also present the Vice-president (the non. F. H. May, Captain Superintendent of Police). Mr. E. Osborne, Dr. Clark (Medical Officer of Health), and Mr. C. W. Duggan (Secretary).
THE NEW BECRETARY.
A letter was read from the Colonial Sec- rotary's Office stating that His Excellency the Governor had been pleased to appoint Mr. C. W. Duggan secretary to the Board.
The PRESIDENT-Mr. Duggan, I compli ment
you on your appointment secretary to this Board. I feel'sure you will endeavour to bring to bear in the performance of your duties that application and devotion which always characterised your predecessor, Mr. McCallum.
k
88
Mr. DUGGAN-I thank you for the remarks you have made. I will endeavour to do my duty to the best of my ability.
CATTLE SHEDS.
Correspondence concerning the prohibition of cattle sheds within certain limits was sub- mitted. It arose out of a paragraph which ap- peared in the report of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon for 1898 which ran_as follows:--- Although as far back as 1889 I recommended that no cow sheds be licensed by the Board within the precincts of the city, I regret to note that nothing has been yet done to cons.der or carry out my suggestion:" Mr. Ladds has de- fined the eastern boundary inside which no cattle sheds should be licensed as "A line drawn from No. 2 Police Station north and south"
The PRESIDENT said he visited the sheds in Kennedy Street (which are inside Mr. Ladds's boundary) with the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon two days ago. He must say that they scarcely appeared to him to be fit places for storing and collec.ing milk. The back premises were very dirty, and do what they would they could not get the Chinese tenants to keep them clean.
The VICE-PRESIDENT proposed__that the recommendation of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon be not adopted, and that the Sanitary inspector of the district be instructed to devote special attention to the sheds in Kennedy Street and to take immediate action if they were found in an insanitary condition.
Dr. CLARK, in seconding, pointed out that the licenses for cattle sheds were issued on January
1st, and in consequence no reasonable action could be taken by the Board until the expiration brought up six months hence if necessary. In the of the present year. The matter might be
kept in as sanitary a condition as possible. meantime they could see that the sheds were
Mr. OSBORNE proposed as an amendment that the matter be deferred two months, and
that in the meantime the Board's inspectors be instructed to pay particnlar attention to these dairies, and that a sub-committes be appointed and empowered to confer with the cattle owners and ontain their views on the subject. If there was any truth at all in the assumption that milk was a constant source from which disease could be communicated to human beings, it was their duty to see that the milk inpply of the colony was kept as pure as possible, and knowing as they did the dirty state in which Chinese kept their whole sur- roundings he thought they ought to oud-avour to get the dairies away from the town `al- together..
The PRESIDENT seconded and the amend- ment was carried.
Mr. Osborne, Dr. Clark, and Mr. Ladds were appointed the sub-committee.
THE PLAGUE. The mortality returns for the colony of Hongkong for the week ended March 4th show a death, rate of 19-3, against 193 for the pre- vious week and 222 for the corresponding week last year.
Mr. OSBORNE remarked that he thought there had been some cases of plague in the colony recently. He believed there were eight deaths during the week ended March 11th. He should like to ask how many deaths there had been from the 12th March to the present time, and also whether the provisions of sub- section 4 section 13. of Ordinance 24 of 1887 in regard to the cleansing and white-washing of houses was being strictly enforced. Whate
Page 10Page 11