STRICT QUARANTINE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 50, 27 January 1938, Page 5

STRICT QUARANTINE.

(PRECAUTIONS IN ENGLAND. It is a difficult majtter to gain permission to inspect the London Quarantine Station, but once secured, intending visitors have to sterilise their hands, don white smocks, and wade through a disinfectant bath before they are allowed entrance to the grounds. These are some of the extraordinary precautions taken to ensure that stock destined for other countries are free of disease. When on his last visit to tho United Kingdom, the New South Wales State Ilerdmaster (Mr C. G. Grant) was given a special permit by Sir Walter Elliott, then British Minister for Agriculture, to inspect the station. He was most impressed with the efficient management and (he deep interest taken by the officer-in-charge, Captain Walker, in the well-being of animals under his care.

The regulations which have to be observed before and after quarantine, as outlined by Mr Grant, are of interest at tho present time when stock-owners are ex-pret-sing concern as to the possibility of introducing foot-and-mouth disease in cattle from tho United Kingdom. Stock sont from the United Kingdom have to be certified by the Ministry to have been quarantined at tho station at ' East India Dock, London, for at least. ,14 days before shipment. To be eligible for entry to the station, the animals .must, not. have been on premises situated within 15 miles of any place on which foot-and-mouth disease, cattlo plague, or pleuro-pneumonia has existed during the preceding three months. The animals have to be examined at the promises of origin by a veterinary inspector of the Ministry, and certified free of these diseases and other contagious or. parasitic troubles. Further, all cattlo must have passed the tuberculin test.

Animals cannot bo moved to quarantine until written authority has been received from the Ministry. They have to be accompanied by a declaration, not only stating that they are free cf disease and have not been exposed to infection, but that they have been moved in vehicles which have been specially cleansed and disinfected. The animals are not allowed to, walk into the station. They must travel in cattle vans, loose boxes, or by motor vans; the evdinarv cattle vans cannot be used. RUGS, FODDER, AND STRAW.

The movement of stock through a foot-and-mouth diseased area is prohibited by road. Rugs will not be accepted with cattle entering the station. New rugs will ho bought for the stock, however, at the owner’s expense. No attendant is allowed to pass within the main customs wall at the East India Dock.

The stock are removed by the station staff from quarantine direct to the vessel. All sheep and goats entering quarantine are double dipped. Fodder and litter used during the voyage must be obtained under the permission of an inspector, and only from districts in Great Britain free from foot-and-mouth disease. Special veterinary and transit regulations are in force in regard to stock entering tho station from the Channel Islands, Northern Ireland, and the Irish Free State.