HL Deb 27 February 2003 vol 645 cc419-21

3.7 p.m.

Baroness Byford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they are taking to reduce the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)

My Lords, the Government are committed to tackling bovine tuberculosis. We are spending £35 million to £40 million a year on a programme of public health protection measures, cattle testing and research. Last week, we announced a review of the current TB strategy as an integral part of the animal health and welfare strategy.

Baroness Byford

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response. Will he acknowledge that the disease is running out of control? There are more cases of TB today than there were of foot and mouth disease during the crisis. The noble Lord referred to yet another consultation, but we cannot wait until 2007 to tackle the cause of the disease. What will the Government do about it?

Lord Whitty

My Lords, the noble Baroness is partly correct. There is a significant number of cases of TB. It will not be fully established, until we have cleared the backlog of testing, how much the rise in TB has escalated. It was increasing at 20 per cent before the foot and mouth disease crisis. The testing programme was suspended during that period, and we are still catching up, although we have made substantial progress. It is a serious situation. About 4,000 herds are or have been at some time in the past year under TB restrictions. That amounts to about 4 per cent of the whole herd.

Lord Carter

My Lords, I am sure the Minister is aware that almost all farmers and most people in the countryside think that badgers are the source of bovine TB. Given that there are no badgers in New Zealand but bovine TB is still to be found there—people are convinced that the possum is the source of the disease—does not that suggest that wildlife, whatever the species, is the most likely source of the problem?

Lord Whitty

My Lords, anyone who has had anything to do with this matter will know that strong views are held about badgers. Some feel that badgers are the sole cause of the transmission of bovine TB. We are holding a number of trials to assess the degree to which transmission takes place via badgers. My noble friend is well informed as regards the situation in New Zealand. However, scientific evidence also supports pretty strongly the view that much of the spread occurs from animal to animal in cattle. Regrettably, some of the spread in the northern regions relates to the restocking that followed the foot and mouth outbreak.

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

My Lords, given that the speed of the spread of the disease seems to be escalating and the fact that the Krebs trial was halted for years during the outbreak of foot and mouth disease, so much so that it had to start again practically from square one, are the Government considering a different line by reinvestigating the possibility of vaccination? The commercial development of an appropriate vaccine has moved forward since it was last considered by the Government.

Lord Whitty

My Lords, no reliable method of delivering the vaccine has yet been made available, either to cattle or to badgers and other wildlife species, although some progress has been made. The Krebs trial is intended to establish once and for all whether the growth of the spread of badgers is the main cause of the increased spread of the disease. To interrupt or change the trial would lead to our being unable to answer that question.

Earl Peel

My Lords, the Minister referred to the backlog of testing, inevitably brought about as a result of vets being taken off TB in order to deal with foot and mouth disease. Can the Minister give the House a firm assurance that the TB tests will be carried out as quickly as possible and that the necessary resources will be made available to ensure that they can take place?

Lord Whitty

My Lords, we have already made additional resources available in the form of £3 million specifically for testing. At the end of 2001 the backlog of tests stood at 27,000. That backlog has now been reduced to 7,500 tests, so we are making substantial progress.

Lord Christopher

My Lords, can my noble friend say whether any data have been collected on the incidence of bovine tuberculosis on non-organic farms as against organic farms? Furthermore, are there any data on the incidence of tuberculosis in cattle in areas where there is a large population of badgers as against those areas in which there is a small population?

Lord Whitty

My Lords, in response to the second question, some information has been gathered, but it is not comprehensive. That is in part what the Krebs trial is directed to ascertain. On the first point, so far as I am aware, no reliable data are available which distinguish between organically reared cattle and others. Assertions have been made that organically reared cattle are less susceptible, although there is no definitive proof.

Lord Soulsby of Swaffham Prior

My Lords, while I am sure that everyone welcomes the Krebs trial relating to the control of tuberculosis in cattle, the results will not be known until around 2006. In the meantime, TB in cattle is spreading in what are in effect the non-controlled areas, causing great concern to dairy farmers. It has even affected those who restocked after the foot and mouth crisis, where there should be no incidence of TB at all. What is the Government's policy for dealing with infections occurring outside the Krebs trial areas?

Lord Whitty

My Lords, the government strategy includes a new package on TB introduced last October. It is a combination of testing, restriction of movement and continuation of the trial. If we were to engage in badger culling outside the trial areas, it would distort the results. I know that pressure is being exerted by large sections of the farming sector to do that. However, I have to say that substantial pressure is also being exerted to maintain what is the current status of the badger, which is that of a protected animal. Noble Lords will know of recent incidents within the Krebs trial areas which makes this an extremely difficult issue on which to strike a balanced approach.