Foot and Mouth (Hansard, 22 January 2002)

§ Paul Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her calculation is of the percentage of animal sales made during the foot and mouth disease epidemic that were conducted outside traditional markets on(a) video links, (b) via the internet and (c) by other means; and if she will make a statement on the (i) safety and (ii) cost of these methods. [24388]

§ Mr. Morley
The closure of livestock markets to prevent the spread of foot and mouth has led producers to develop a number of other means of selling their stock; we do not have information on the number of animals sold in this way. All animal sales are required to meet movement licence conditions, including bio-security requirements.

Paul Fly
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what was the total expenditure on(a) compensation, (b) Civil Service costs, (c) decontamination, (d) additional rural aid and (e) payments to vets, slaughterers and valuers arising from the foot and mouth disease epidemic [26024]
777W

§ Mr. Morley
The total estimated expenditure arising out of foot and mouth disease is as follows:

(a) compensation for animals slaughtered and for seized and destroyed items is £1,114,200,000;

(b) total Civil Service costs are not yet available;

(c) costs for cleansing and disinfection are £280,000,000

(d) additional rural payments are not yet available; and

(e) total costs for vets, slaughterers and valuers is £72,100,000.

§ Mr. Breed
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when blood tests for foot and mouth disease will be completed; and what the timetable is for blood tests relating to foot and mouth disease. [27622]

§ Mr. Morley
The blood testing necessary to classify each county in Great Britain as free of foot and mouth disease (FMD) is now complete. Pre-movement blood testing of sheep flocks is also no longer required. Blood testing is still required where a farmer re-stocks with sheep, goats, or camelids following an outbreak. It is expected that most blood testing for re-stocking purposes will be complete by early summer.
Blood samples are sent from the local Animal Health Office by courier to the laboratory to arrive within 24 hours of the sample being taken. The laboratories have a target turn-round time for FMD blood tests of seven days and currently the mean turn-round time is three days. Results from the laboratories are then made available by computer to the local Animal Health Office.

§ Mr. Breed
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what forms of testing are carried out by her Department in relation to foot and mouth disease[27625]

§ Mr. Morley
Tests for the detection of foot and mouth disease virus and antibody are performed according to the protocols described in the chapter on foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the OIE Manual of Standards for Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines (2000) which was written by staff at the Institute for Animal Health (IAH), Pirbright. These tests were performed at IAH, Pirbright and five other laboratories on behalf of DEFRA. In addition, one of the antibody detection ELISA tests was improved. This test was validated and the data have been submitted to OIE for their approval as a prescribed test.

§ Mr. Breed
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department is taking to validate(a) alternative and (b) complementary testing procedures where positive foot and mouth disease cases are confirmed. [27623]

§ Mr. Morley
DEFRA supports a programme of applied research and test development at IAH, Pirbright. A priority is the development of more rapid and reliable diagnostic tests for use in the laboratory and in the field. Another priority is to develop better methods for identifying infection among vaccinated animals so that vaccinated animals could be safely kept alive. All such tests must be properly validated to ensure international acceptance.

§ Mr. Luff
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the remaining movement restrictions on livestock farms in Worcestershire, imposed as a result of the foot and mouth epidemic will be lifted. [28899]
778W

§ Mr. Morley
There are 15 farms in Worcestershire currently under restrictions. It is anticipated that it should be possible to lift all these restrictions by 23 April unless there is any change to the current disease situation.