§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received from the Scottish Executive in respect of measures to control the spread of the bovine TB virus. [62413]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 17 June 20021: I have received no representations from the Scottish Executive about bovine TB, but our officials are in regular contact. Officials and stakeholders will be meeting to discuss policy in the near future.
§ Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research her Department has undertaken into possible causes of tuberculosis in cattle other than through badgers. [62838]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government are funding a wide-ranging research programme following advice from the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle Tuberculosis (ISG). The programme extends well beyond the badger culling trial to encompass:
- Pathogenesis of TB in cattle;
- Improved diagnostic techniques;
- Developing vaccine candidates;
- The risk to cattle from wildlife other than badgers: and
- A restocking study making the most of the unique research opportunities following foot and mouth disease and looking at TB in newly formed herds.
Further details of the research programme can be found in "An Epidemiological Investigation into Bovine Tuberculosis", the third report of the ISG which was published in July 2001. Copies are available in the House Library.
§ Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will suspend the badger cull until it has been established that badgers are the cause of bovine tuberculosis. [62814]
§ Mr. MorleySince 1997 there has been a moratorium on the use of badger culling as a bovine tuberculosis control mechanism in GB, except for the culling that takes place under the badger culling trial.
The Government have no plans to suspend the badger culling trial which is an essential element of the Government's wide ranging research and control strategy for dealing with bovine tuberculosis (TB). The role of the badger in the epidemiology of cattle TB is unresolved and emotive. The purpose of the trial is to evaluate, once and for all, the extent to which badgers contribute to bovine TB and the effects of badger culling on the disease. It will also provide epidemiological data on the occurrence and prevalence of TB in badgers, its relationship to population density and the spatial relationship between TB-infected badgers and TB breakdowns in cattle herds.
This work will help to ensure that future control policies are underpinned by sound scientific principles and seeks to find ways in which healthy cattle and badgers can live side by side.