About the dangers of smoked ham
The head of the Department of Therapy and Hygiene of the Royal Veterinary College, Professor Frederick Hobday, at a joint meeting of the Royal Society of Medicine and the National Veterinary Association, made a presentation on infectious diseases of animals transmitted to humans.
Among the common diseases in the UK, he mentioned the following: sap, anthrax, tuberculosis, rabies, foot and mouth disease, scabies of all types of animals, ringworm and some types of seborrhea. Domestic dogs very often suffer from periodontal disease, while some owners kiss them, allow them to lick their lips and hands, which may be a factor in the spread of this disease among people. Some parasites need to enter the animal's body to complete their life cycle before they pass into a form pathogenic for humans. These include echinococcus, Cysticercus bovis (bovine tapeworm larva), Cysticercus cellulosae (pork tapeworm larva), parasites of beef and pork, respectively, Trichinella spiralis, found in the muscle tissue of pigs and is the cause of the increase in the incidence of trichinosis in countries where ham is mainly used in smoked, without proper cooking.
The victory over these diseases in veterinary medicine will lead to the disappearance of these diseases in humans, said Professor Hobday. In this sense, veterinarians are at the forefront of the fight.
So, in Great Britain in 1901, 1901 horses with glanders were destroyed (including 1828 in London), while in 1920 only 15 outbreaks of this disease were recorded and only 22 horses were required to be destroyed. And this happened after the sale of about 150 thousand army horses and mules brought from different countries during the war. Malein proved to be excellent in the diagnosis of glanders. Thanks to him, glanders were brought under control in Great Britain.
Veterinarians have also succeeded in reducing the incidence of anthrax, from about 1,000 cases annually in 1907–1910 to 239 in 1919.
As far as rabies is concerned, Britain was virtually free of the disease for two decades, but the importation of a sick animal from the continent in May 1918 led to a new outbreak. There is no doubt that British veterinarians will be able to repeat the past success and again rid the country of this disease.
An article about Professor Hobday's report was published in The British Medical Journal on March 5, 1921.
The publication was prepared by Alexey Alekseev
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