HC Deb 31 January 1980 vol 977 cc723-4W
124. Mr. Skeet

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what are the methods used to combat Aujeszky's disease in the EEC;

  1. (2) whether he will recommend the destruction of pigs affected by Aujeszky's disease in conjunction with the payment of compensation to prevent it from spreading to new locations in the United Kingdom;
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  2. (3) how many outbreaks of Aujeszky's disease have been registered in the past year in the United Kingdom; and what is the trend in the number of outbreaks;
  3. (4) how infectious Aujeszky's disease is; and whether animals other than pigs are affected.

Mr. Wiggin

The Government's policy in relation to the disease will be announced as soon as possible after the current consultations with interested organisations on the results of the surveys which have been undertaken have been completed.

Thirty-four instances of infection were discovered in 1979, representing an increase over the previous decade when the number of known new cases varied between nil and 15 annually. Some of the increase in 1979 can be attributed to the fact that the disease is now notifiable. The main focus of infection continues to be on the Norfolk/Suffolk border where the disease has spread. Elsewhere infection is generally sporadic and at a consistently low level.

Aujeszky's disease is not particularly infectious among pigs. There have been isolated instances of other animals contracting the disease, invariably when closely associated with infected pig farms. No Community or national measures are taken to eradicate the disease in the EEC although vaccination is widely practised in some member States.