§ 40. Mr. Bullardasked the Minister of Health if his attention has been drawn to the danger that four men in Norfolk may have contracted fowl pest after helping with the slaughter of chickens among which the disease had broken out; and if he will make a statement.
§ Miss Hornsby-SmithMy right hon. Friend is advised that this disease, although in a limited sense transmissible to man, is not readily passed on among human beings. The only known clinical form of the disease in man is a mild inflammation of the eyes without constitutional disturbance. In the instance referred to the men are now back at work.
§ Mr. BullardDoes the Parliamentary Secretary appreciate that the policy of the Minister of Agriculture towards this disease is very drastic, being one of slaughter and compensation? I do not want her to pursue such a drastic policy towards human beings, but would she take an opportunity to make it quite clear to farmers and farmworkers how great or how small the risk may be?
§ Miss Hornsby-SmithI think it might reassure my hon. Friend if I told him that, while it is not unreasonable to attribute the eye condition in the two men concerned to contact at work with the diseased fowls, the laboratory tests which were made did not confirm this association.