§ Mr. de Freitasasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken to deal with the outbreak of hypomagnesaemia or Hereford disease.
Mr. AmoryHypomagnesaemia, which appears to be unusually prevalent in cattle this year, is a condition associated with a deficiency of magnesium in the blood stream. The condition is well known to veterinary surgeons. I am advised that little can be done by way of prevention, since the trouble often arises out of an animal's apparent inability to absorb the whole of the magnesium content of its food into the blood stream. The reasons for this are as yet obscure, but research into this condition is continuing.