§ 49. Mr. Bossomasked the Minister of Agriculture whether, as there have been 254 outbreaks of fowl pest in England and Wales and four in Scotland during 1758 the month of January alone, he yet has any proposals to overcome this problem.
Mr. T. WilliamsI would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Eye (Mr. Granville) on 2nd March. It would seem that the steps that have been and are being taken by my Department to deal with the disease are producing encouraging results. The number of outbreaks during February fell to 156, of which 128 were in England and Wales, and there were only 11 outbreaks in the first 11 days of March.
§ Mr. BossomWhile thanking the Minister for the good work he is doing, may I ask if he will look into the question of the importation of fowls from fowl pest infected countries, which is concluded to be the main cause of this trouble?