HC Deb 27 February 1877 vol 232 cc1087-8
SIR WALTER BARTTELOT

asked the Vice President of the Council, Whether inquiries have been instituted with reference to the origin of the outbreak of cattle plague in Hull; and, if so, with what result? He wished also to know whether there had been any fresh outbreak of plague since the noble Lord had last addressed the House on the subject?

MR. NORWOOD

asked if the noble Lord is now able to state the "detailed" information to which he referred when he expressed on Thursday last his belief that the outbreak of rinderpest at Hull was caused by infection which came direct from Germany?

VISCOUNT SANDON

I fear I cannot give any positive information as to the origin of the outbreak of cattle plague at Hull; but the inquiry which has been made confirms, I think. though indirectly, the statement I made last week, that we had reason to believe that it was imported from Germany, but we have only presumptive evidence on the subject. On January 14 a cargo of 25 cattle was landed at Hull from Hamburg within the part of the port defined for slaughter, and on the following day, the 15th, the cargo of animals largely affected by the cattle plague, the arrival of which in London created so much alarm, reached Deptford also from Hamburg. Shortly after the landing of the animals at Hull the Inspector ascertained that several of them were affected with the foot-and-mouth disease, and the following day one of them was found to be very ill, and was immediately slaughtered. From the account which the Inspector has given of the symptoms and of the post-mortem appearance there is no doubt that this animal was the subject of cattle plague. All these animals were slaughtered in the defined part of the port. It was not till the 17th of February that any case of cattle plague was detected in a living animal in the dairies of Hull; but it has been ascertained that one dairyman had got rid of all his stock previously to that period, but he asserts that he sent them to the butcher. The other cases which I mentioned as having occurred in Hull were detected after this on an inspection of all the dairies. No fresh cases have been reported since the last information which I gave to the House—that is to say, since the 20th of February.