SZ/CIR - Committee of Inquiry on Rabies

SZ/CIR

Series

Committee of Inquiry on Rabies

1871-1973

4 boxes
16 files

United Kingdom. Committee of Inquiry into Rabies
Rabies

In July 1969 a dog recently imported from India died of rabies while in quarantine; in October another dog died of rabies 10 days after release from quarantine, and in November a second quarantined dog died of the disease. At the end of February 1970 a fourth imported dog died, the second to succumb to the disease after release from quarantine. Until this time there had been no recorded incidents in Britain of deaths of animals out of quarantine since 1922. The fact that two of the four dogs had been ‘at liberty’ after becoming infected and in contact with other animals during that time caused considerable public disquiet.

The seriousness of the situation was made clear to the Prime Minister by SZ in the immediate aftermath of the death of the second unquarantined animal (see below). Anti-rabies regulations were tightened, an import ban on dogs and cats imposed, and a Committee of Enquiry was set up by the Minister of Agriculture and the Secretary of State for Scotland under the Chairmanship of Ronald Waterhouse, QC. SZ was invited to be a member of the Committee.

The Committee held its first meeting on 1.4.70, and its last on 4.5.71.

The correspondence file (SZ/CIR/2) opens with a minute from SZ to the Prime Minister (Edward Heath), 4.3.70, stressing the seriousness of rabies, and supporting the imposition of a ban on the import of cats and dogs "from all countries in which the disease is endemic" and regardless of whatever quarantine regulations were imposed. Correspondence from 1973 (with Ronald Waterhouse) concerns the passage of the Rabies Bill through Parliament.

The Committee considered statistics, reports, and the scientific literature relating to rabies (Files SZ/CIR/3-4), made two overseas visits (Files SZ/CIR/6-7), and set up a number of specialist sub-committees and working groups (Files SZ/CIR/9-13). Many of the scientific papers feature the name of Martin Kaplan.

The first visit abroad was to Geneva, Berne and Tubingen, 29.5.70 - 3.6.70, and the second to France, Denmark and the Netherlands, 27.9.70 - 1.10.70. The papers relating to the second visit consist of a folder headed "Rage" containing copies of a number of French publications on rabies.

An Interim Report was published in August 1970 (Cmnd 4457), and a Final Report in June 1971 (Cmnd 4696). File CIR/15 contains drafts and published texts of both, together with press-releases announcing their publication.

File SZ/CIR/16 contains articles and press reports, for the most part photocopied, relating to the Enquiry and its reports, and to rabies generally. It also includes a short memorandum from the Committee’s secretariat referring to the popular television drama series Doomwatch, an episode of which featured a human death from rabies. The secretariat reported that "when any of the programmes in this series has touched on Ministry [of Agriculture] subjects they have been of a fairly [superimposed on "very"] high standard".