asked the Minister for Agriculture if his attention has been directed to a report submitted by Dr. J. A. H. Brincken, senior M.O. to the London County Council. on the outbreak of para-typhoid which occurred last July and August, wherein he suggested that the consumption of Irish cream was at least partially responsible for the outbreak; if the Minister has made any investigations into the matter, and whether he proposes to issue a statement.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Cream and Para-Typhoid Outbreaks.
The answer to the first and second parts of the question is in the affirmative.
When it came to my knowledge some time ago that there was presumptive evidence that cream distributed by a London firm, which receives part of its supplies from Irish creameries, was responsible for the outbreak dealt with in the report referred to, I had the matter investigated. As a result of inquiries, it was ascertained that three Saorstát creameries supplied cream to the firm in question during, and immediately before and after, the probable period of infection, and that the same creameries on the same dates had supplied cream to Dublin and to fifteen English centres outside London. It was also found that there was no outbreak at any of the places to which the Irish cream was supplied, save London. This fact would seem to prove conclusively that the source of infection could not have been the cream as received from the Saorstát.
I might mention that the report submitted to the London County Council indicates that the London distributors, before disposing of the Saorstát cream, subjected it to treatment, and, consequently, it is possible that the Irish cream became contaminated in London.
As regards the last part of the question, when the report referred to appeared in the Press, the Department of Agriculture issued a statement, which was printed in the Irish daily papers of the 8th and 9th instant, giving the facts of the case. A similar statement was handed to the Press Association by the Saorstát Trade Commissioner in London and appeared in some English papers, including the "Times."