§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what funding her Department has offered to the Public Health Laboratory Service for research into bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt Jakob disease; and which member of the staff is to carry out the research.
§ Mr. SoamesNone.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the result of the work of the Public Health Laboratory Service about a possible test for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in animals; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SoamesJoint work between this Ministry's central veterinary laboratory and Dr. Narang at the 241W Newcastle public health laboratory in which specimens were examined blind by him using an electron microscope technique he had developed, and by the CVL using conventional established techniques, did not indicate that Dr. Narang's technique was any improvement.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what reports she has received concerning Dr. Harash Narang's work on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies; and if she will place these reports in the Library.
§ Mr. SoamesMAFF is co-funding research with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council designed to repeat independently the procedures used by Dr. Narang and to assess his reported observations. These studies are being undertaken with the co-operation and involvement of Dr. Narang.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made by Government-funded institutions towards a test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy and other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in animals and humans.
§ Mr. SoamesGovernment-funded research aimed at developing a diagnostic test for BSE in live cattle is in progress. The results of this research will be published when the work has been completed.