§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what staff and resources were allocated in each year since 1999 towards the bovine TB problem in(a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Herefordshire and (d) Worcestershire. [65690]
§ Mr. MorleyThe information requested on a county basis is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Expenditure by the State Veterinary Service (Field) on the bovine TB programme is shown in Table 1. This includes the cost of local and temporary veterinary inspectors but does not include compensation.
Table 1: State Veterinary Service (field) expenditure on the bovine TB programme in England and Wales £ Expenditure 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 England 7,757,183 7,574,217 7,955,962 Wales 920,011 1,472,469 1,240,032 The amount of compensation paid for cattle slaughtered to control bovine TB from 1999 to 2001 is shown in Table 2. Compensation figures are only readily available for Great Britain as a whole and are collated on a calendar year basis.
951W
Table 2: TB compensation in Great Britain £ Expenditure 1999 5,770,983 2000 7,307,797 2001 7,074,125
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of Central Science Laboratory research relating to badgers feeding in cattle troughs. [66347]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 3 July 2002]: The study by Central Science Laboratory and Sussex university showed that badgers frequently visited buildings on two farms in Gloucestershire, to exploit a range of food items. During some visits cattle feed was contaminated with badger faeces and badgers came into close direct contact with housed cattle. Given that there is a substantial body of circumstantial evidence implicating the badger in the transmission of bovine TB to cattle, such situations could potentially carry a high risk of infection. CSL will embark on a wider—scale DEFRA funded study later this year to investigate this phenomenon further.
These findings emphasise the need for good biosecurity on farms and the need to minimise access of this kind from badgers.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle were slaughtered after a positive TB test in each year since 1997. [66805]
§ Mr. MorleyThe number of animals compulsorily slaughtered as TB reactors or as direct contacts is given in the table.
Number of cattle compulsorily slaughtered as TB reactors or contacts in Great Britain Number of animals slaughtered TB reactors1 Contacts2 Total3 1997 3,213 456 3,669 1998 4,958 926 5,884 19994 5,910 862 6,772 20004 7,031 1,322 8,353 20014 5,347 904 6,251 1Animals which gave a positive result (i.e. reacted) to the tuberculin test and were compulsorily slaughtered. 2Animals which, under the terms of Directive 64/432 as amended, were considered to have been direct contacts exposed to TB and therefore compulsorily slaughtered. 3Animals compulsorily slaughtered because they reacted to the tuberculin test of because they were considered to be direct contacts. Not all the animals will necessarily be confirmed as being infected with Mycobacterium bovis. 4Provisional: data for 1999 onwards will remain provisional until all culture results are available and final data validation carried out. Source:
DEFRA's Animal Health Database