§ 52. Mr. BLACKasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will state the exact position on 1st May with regard to the outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in England and Scotland?
§ Mr. BUXTONThe position with regard to foot-and-mouth disease on the 1st May was more satisfactory than on any previous day since the commencement of the outbreak in August last year, 63 outbreaks on separate farms having been confirmed during the month of April, as compared with 215 in March, 308 in February, 582 in January, and 1,252 in December. During April itself there has also been a steady decrease, the number of fresh cases confirmed during the last half of the month being 20 as compared with 43 in the first half. I propose to circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT particulars of the distribution of these 20 cases, together with other statistics relating to outbreaks of the disease.
§ Mr. STURROCKDoes any one of these cases apply to Scotland?
§ Mr. BUXTONYes; the cases that have occurred have applied to 11 counties in Scotland in the course of the outbreak.
§ Mr. STURROCKOn the 1st May last were there any indications of foot-and-mouth disease in Scotland?
§ Mr. BUXTONOutbreaks disappear from the list as the restrictions are removed, and it is impossible to be absolutely up to date.
§ Colonel ASHLEYIs there any truth in the statement which appeared in the newspapers two or three days ago that a remedy for this scourge by inoculation had been discovered?
| Total number of outbreaks confirmed—3,060. | ||||
| Total number of counties affected—39 in England; 2 in Wales; and 11 in scotland. | ||||
| — | Cattle. | Sheep. | Pigs. | Goats. |
| Total number of animals slaughtered or authorised to be slaughtered. | 103,138 | 42,969 | 47,693 | 125 |
| Percentage of animals slaughtered to total animal population of Great Britain. | 1.4% | 0.2% | 1.7% | — |
| Estimated gross compensation payable—£3,237,000. | ||||
| Estimated receipts for salvage of healthy carca-es—£481,750. | ||||
| Estimated administrative expenses—£433,000. | ||||
| Total net expenditure—£3,188,250. |
§ Mr. BUXTONMany remedies exist and are well confirmed, but unless they are sufficiently rapid they are not of effective use, as what is required is an immunising agent, which has not yet been discovered.
§ Mr. GRAHAM WHITEHave any of the cases reported in April referred to fresh outbreaks on farms that have been restocked?
§ Mr. BUXTONI think not, but I will ascertain.
§ Following are the particulars:
§ The 20 outbreaks in the last half of April were distributed as follows:
| England. | |||
| Bedfordshire | … | … | 1 |
| Leicestershire | … | … | 2 |
| Middlesex | … | … | 2 |
| Norfolk | … | … | 3 |
| Nottinghamshire | … | … | 1 |
| Staffs | … | … | 2 |
| Warwickshire | … | … | 1 |
| Yorkshire (N.R.) | … | … | 4 |
| Yorkshire (W.R.) | … | … | 1 |
| Scotland. | |||
| Ayrshire | … | … | 2 |
| Lanark | … | … | 1 |
§ There has thus been steady progress in the eradication of the disease, and the fact that this progress has not been even more rapid is due to the extraordinary infectivity of foot-and-mouth disease and the widespread character of the recent infection.
§ The following is a summary of the position from the 27th August, 1923, up to the 1st May, 1924: