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have been various criticisms and suggestions in past years and various
difficulties tending to prevent the achievement of effective control have
been mentioned. The suggestions include quarantine on the frontiers
and improvement of the mobility of the staff of Veterinary Assistants.
The difficulties mentioned include deficiency and delay in the supply of
serum for inoculation against rinderpest, the insufficient number of the
staff qualified to perform inoculations, the effect of large unfenced
grazing grounds in spreading the disease and the apathy of the
people and their failure to appreciate the necessity for the prompt
reporting of outbreaks and the value of segregation.
4. As regards the apathy of the public, Mr. Lewisohn, in commenting
on the Report for 1924-25, remarked that it " will only disappear slowly in
the course of generations with the gradual spread of education and
the development of civic spirit."
Cases, however, have been known in
which the rural population in some localities in Upper Burma have taken
it upon themselves to stop the transit of cattle through their villages for
fear of cattle disease and Mr. Dunn does not think it necessary to
give up all hope of improvement in this matter until the passing of
generations has evolved civic spirit without the conscious efforts of
individuals and governments. The Ministry of Education in its recent
Resolution on proposals for the improvement of the Local Government
(No. 399U27, dated the 15th July 1927) has raised the question what
measures are advisable with regard to the control of the Veterinary staff
by the local government bodies and whether it is expedient to amend
the rules for the prevention of cattle disease so as to transfer certain
powers and duties from the district officers to the local bodies. The
present arrangement is a triple control by the Veterinary Department, the
district officers and the district councils.
The veterinary problem has
some analogy to the problem of public health improvement.
With
regard to the latter the opinion of Dr. Bentley, the Director of Public
Health in Bengal, and other authorities in India and Burma is that the only
means by which rapid and general progress can be secured is by
making use of local government authorities as agencies for carrying out
and popularising public health improvements.
5. It seems to be impracticable, however, to localise completely the
measures for dealing with outbreaks of rinderpest which threaten
to sweep over Burma. The Department is in favour of completely
centralising the control of the staff to be employed for this work and of
giving to this staff the maximum mobility.
In the case of veterinary
dispensaries, on the other hand, the increase of which was recommended
by the Burma Agricultural Committee (1925) and by Messrs. Cameron
and Blake in annual reports of the Department the localisation of control
seems to be preferable : and if dispensaries can be increased in number
and provided with sufficient stabling they may be a means of spreading
confidence in western methods of veterinary treatment. The number of
cases treated at dispensaries shows an increase and in spite of
Mr. McKerral's remark in paragraph 15 of this report that "a further
step in this direction would hardly seem justified at present," Mr. Dunn
would like to have this matter further considered.
6. The subordinate field staff was largely increased in 1926.
A
Research Officer is being obtained from South Africa and enquiries
are being made with a view to obtaining a second research officer.
Mr. McKerral is of opinion that the strengthening of the superior field
staff, that is, Superintendents with training in western countries, is even
more urgently important than the appointment of research officers with