§ Mr. Templeasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the number of outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease which have occurred since 1952 in England and Wales, giving in each case the numbers of farms involved, the approximate time between first identified case and permission for all to restock, and numbers of animals slaughtered and strains of virus identified or suspected in each instance.
§ Mr. PeartThe information is not readily available in the form in which the hon. Member requires.
In single cases, we allow restocking to take place 28 days after final disinfection or 42 days after the date of slaughter, whichever is the earlier. When there have been a number of outbreaks in an area, restocking is not permitted until approximately that time after the last case in the area.
The following table sets out the number of outbreaks and numbers of animals slaughtered in each year since 1952. Occasionally outbreaks occur on places other than farms.