§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evaluation is being relied upon by her Department in respect of the possible link between badgers and the spread of bovine tuberculosis; and if she will make a statement. [84239]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 3 December 2002]: A badger culling field trial is being carried out as part of DEFRA's extensive bovine tuberculosis (TB) research programme. The trial was designed by the Independent Scientific Group for Cattle TB (ISG) to evaluate what role, if any, badgers play in the transmission of bovine TB to cattle and whether badger culling is an effective or sustainable bovine TB control mechanism. It will provide epidemiological data on the occurrence and prevalence of TB in badgers, its relationship to population density and social group size and the spatial relationship between TB-infected badgers and TB breakdowns in cattle herds.
The ISG advise that it is too early for a full analysis of results. It is a basic rule for scientific trials that results are not published prematurely. It has however been 943W possible to complete a preliminary analysis of the risk factors associated with cattle TB, and this is set out in the ISG's Third Report, available in the House Library.