FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 631, 6 April 1929, Page 12

FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE

Chilled Beef As Possible Source Of Infection

ARGENTINE EXPORTS TO BRITAIN

Issues of tremendous importance to British, farmers depend on the results of* .the experiments that are being conducted by scientists of the Ministry 6i Agriculture to determine the risks of outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease being caused by the importation of foreign meat.

A possible outcome of these experiments, states an English paper, will be ji powerful agitation to prohibit the importation of Argentine chilled beef. The great Argentine meat industry, •which exports about £25,000,000 worth of chilled beef to Great Britain every year, is becoming seriousty alarmed over the possibility that a ban will be placed on its products. Chilled beef, which is said to carry a higher risk of infection than the more unpalatable frozen meat, offers serious competition in the Home market to prime English beef. If imports from Argentine were restricted to frozen meat, the demand for the home product would increase to such an extent that British farmers could look forward to a new era of prosperity. It has been established that imported meat may be a source of infection for seven weeks and perhaps longer, and growing alarm at the danger’ has been expressed by leading agricultural experts. At a recent meeting of the Council of Agriculture, the following resolution was moved, urging the Minister of Agriculture that: “In view of the grave dangqr of outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease being caused by the importation of meat from foreign countries where the disease is endemic, steps be taken to ascertain how long the .virus may remain active in any portion of the carcase with the view to taking whatever steps may be found to be best to limit, or, if possible eliminate the risk of disease being introduced through this source.’* Experiments with this object are now being conducted at the Ministry’s laboratory at New Haw, Weybridge.’and at the experimental statiou at Pirbright. America prohibits the importation of Argentine chilled beef on the ground of the dangers of infection, and this has been largely responsible for the recent marked development of the American market by Canadian and New Zealand exporters. Importation of Canadian meat in England has uimost ceased since the American demand. * Fjw?ts and figures of ihc New Zealand ttKQI export. Uaot wsMp th# United

States are striking proof of tins cauw to show that better times are.in prospect for the British farmer. Statistics now available show how New Zealand meat consignments,* intended for this country, are being deflected Ho the United Slates because of the shortage in America. ‘ Until recently New’ Zealand's meat exports to* the United States were negligible, as the following tabic shows:— N.Z. meat exports to U.S. Year £ 1923 14 1924 776 1925 72 1926 916 1927 23,220 1928 601,395 If the Ministry of Agriculture’s investigations bear out the suspicions of many agriculturists that imported chilled beef carries infection of loot-and-mouth disease had been traced to velop over the question whether its importation should be prohibited. Veterinary inspectors of the Ministry in the Argentine have reported that the Government there is doing everything in its power to prevent the exportation of diseased carcases, and steps have been taken in England by the Ministry to minimise the risk of infection from this source. Important political considerations will arise if, and when, the prohibition of Argentine chilled meat becomes a vital question. Those who are in favour of its exclusion declare that there is no justification for the fear that higher food prices would follow. In support of their argument, they gc, nack to the agitation that was raised when the Government prohibited the importation of all fresh meat from the Continent because an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has been traced to the foot of an imported pig. The fear was then generally expressed that the price of pork would go up and up, but what actually happened was that so many pigs were raised by home farmers to meet the new demand that the price of pork dropped to a fignre much lower than it had bee a for >Mri.