§ 30. Mr. P. Browneasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will authorise the use of the vaccine to immunise cattle against Johne's disease now that the whole country is designated an attested area.
§ The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Christopher Soames)Much study is being made of immunisation as a method of controlling Johne's disease, but with the present state of knowledge it would not be wise to authorise the general use of vaccine against this disease while tuberculin testing is still a regular feature.
§ Mr. BrowneHas the Minister read the Answer which his predecessor gave to me on 7th July last year? If not, will he do so? If he has, will he bear in mind the losses incurred by farmers due to Johne's disease, and now that this country is an attested area as a whole, surely farmers should be allowed—those who wish to—to immunise their cattle against this disease?
§ Mr. SoamesI think that we would all be very glad if we could discover a vaccine which would be effective against Johne's disease without having a bad effect and creating more difficulties in the testing for tuberculosis, which still has to continue even though the country as a whole is clear. We have still to protect ourselves against T.B. breaking out again, and if we could find a suitable vaccine—and there are experiments going on in 350 farms at the moment—we would be glad to go forward on it.