HC Deb 21 March 1994 vol 240 cc80-1W
Dr. Strang

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the BSE maternal transmission experiment commenced; and when it is expected to be completed.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

The Ministry's study into the occurrence of maternal transmission started in July 1989 and will continue until the cattle develop clinical BSE or reach seven years of age—the youngest animal in the study will not reach this age until late 1996.

Dr. Strang

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make an interim statement on the results of the Ministry BSE maternal transmission experiment.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

This experiment is incomplete so no conclusions can be drawn. All animals in the study will be killed and their brains examined, either when they develop clinical signs of BSE, or when they are seven years old. The youngest animal in the study will not be seven years old until late 1996, and at the present time the experiment cannot be completed before that date.

Dr. Strang

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many cases of BSE have been confirmed among the experimental animals involved in the BSE maternal transmission experiment;

(2) how many cattle involved in the experiment set up to investigate the possibility of maternal transmission of BSE have been confirmed as being infected by BSE to date; how many were among the offspring of cows confirmed to have BSE and how many were among the controls; and how many infected animals had access to contaminated feed.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

Of the 630 cattle involved in the study, 19 have been confirmed as BSE cases to date. For scientific reasons, the study is being conducted blind, and it is therefore not known whether these cases are offspring of confirmed BSE cases or control animals. All these animals were purchased and their feeding history before purchase is unknown, and irrelevant to the study.