§ 50. Sir R. Glynasked the Minister of Agriculture if he can give any reason, as a result of recent investigation, as to the causes of the scattered outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Wiltshire and Berkshire in recent weeks; and if there is any proof that the infection is carried by bird migrants from Central Europe.
Mr. T. WilliamsThere have been four outbreaks in Berkshire this year, and although there have been none in Wiltshire there have been eight others in South-East England and the Midlands. In two of the Berkshire outbreaks and at least five of the others the most likely cause is that the animals had contact with infected imported meat or with swill which had been contaminated by such meat. In this series of outbreaks there is no reason to suspect that infection has been carried by migratory birds. There is no doubt that contact with contaminated swill is the most common origin of outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in this country, and I should like to remind farmers and all those who handle swill which has not been rendered safe by sterilisation or concentration of the great importance of preventing animals from having any direct or indirect contact with it.