§ 7. Mr. CHARLES BATHURSTasked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether the Scottish Agricultural Com mission reported in 1904 that swine fever had been stamped out in Denmark since early in the eighties, and was then un known in that country; and whether any more than occasional sporadic outbreaks have occurred since 1904, and what methods the Danish Government employed to stamp out this disease?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Herbert Lewis, for Mr. Runciman)I am informed that the Report of the Scottish Commission referred only to a virulent form of swine fever, described as "acute swine diphtheria," which appeared in Denmark in 1886 or 1887, and was stamped out by means of compulsory slaughter within two years. The milder form of the disease has existed in Denmark for many years continuously; last year there were 58 outbreaks, and during the first two months of this year there were 14 outbreaks. The procedure followed in Denmark when an outbreak occurs is to slaughter all diseased animals, to restrict movement, and to isolate the affected herd; animals not actually diseased are allowed to be fattened and killed for food, and when the whole herd has thus been exterminated the premises are disinfected.