Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Hansard, 19 February 1990)

Mr. Alan W. Williams
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many bulls at artificial insemination centres in the United Kingdom have been found to be afflicted by bovine spongiform encephalopathy; and what estimate can be made of the number of calves that these would have fathered during their lives;
581W
(2) what are the latest figures for the number of (a) bulls and (b) cows affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy;
(3) whether there is any restriction on the sale of calves from bulls later diagnosed as affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

§ Mr. Maclean
Up to 9 February, BSE had been confirmed in 9,976 cows and 22 bulls in Great Britain. Five of those bulls were found at artificial insemination centres and are estimated to have sired around 1,000 calves between them. Research is in hand to establish whether the BSE agent is transmitted in semen. However, analogy with sheep scrapie suggests that such transmission will not occur and restrictions on the progeny of affected bulls are not, therefore, appropriate.

Mr. Alan W. Williams
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will consider introducing a substantial educational programme for farmers including leaflets, booklets and the use of video film to help them recognise the symptoms of bovine spongiform encephalopathy-infected animals.

§ Mr. Maclean
Information about BSE has been disseminated extensively through the farming press and has received wide coverage in other press and media. Advisory leaflets are given to all farmers who report a suspect case of BSE. In addition, Ministry veterinary staff make regular presentations, involving widespread material, to farming groups.

§ Mr. Redmond
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the regulations concerned with preventing meat from cattle slaughtered because they are infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy from reaching the human food chain and for ensuring that cattle slaughtered for food are not infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

§ Mr. Maclean
The legislation is as follows:
The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (No. 2) Order 1988 (as amended).
The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Compensations Order 1990.
The Bovine Offals (Prohibition) Regulations 1989.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is(a) the largest number of cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy recorded on a single farm, (b) the average number of cases per affected herd,(c) the proportions of herds which have had a single case, (d) the proportion of all dairy herds that have had one or more cases and (e) the proportion of all beef herds that have had one or more cases.

§ Mr. Maclean
The information for Great Britain is as follows:

29

1.75

63.3 per cent.

10.3 per cent.

0.7 per cent.