§ 11. Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the Minister of Health what information he has as to the number of people suffering from brucellosis; and whether he will make it a notifiable disease.
§ Mr. SnowI would refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply on 2nd February to the hon. Member for North Angus and Mearns (Mr. BuchananSmith).—[Vol. 757, c.428.]
My right hon. Friend is not satisfied that it would serve any useful purpose to make brucellosis notifiable.
§ Mr. DigbyWill the hon. Gentleman consult his right hon. Friend and ask him to approach the Minister of Agriculture about this, as cases are occurring in my constituency?
§ Mr. SnowYes, Sir though I should say that notification of brucellosis would be unlikely to be of practical value in tracing a source of infection because of the length of time elapsing between infection and confirmed diagnosis.
Dr. DunwoodyWill the hon. Gentleman look at this again, because this disease is much more frequent in the community than is generally appreciated? Will he look again at the question of notification and at the question of designating it as an industrial disease for farmers and farm workers, and will he take steps to stop the sale of raw milk, from which most of the disease originates?
§ Mr. SnowI do not think that the question of designation is one for my Department, but I will take note of what my hon. Friend says. I may say that the Circular issued by my right hon. Friend in 1966 had the result of bringing about a greater awareness of the disease, and current figures of cases may have been inflated because of the greater awareness.