§ Mr. Masonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how successful the slaughter and disinfection programmes dealing with whirling disease in trout have been during the recent outbreak; how many areas have been infected; to what extent whirling disease has been eradicated; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithA total of 58 sites have been declared infected, of which seven have now had movement restrictions lifted.
Our experience has been that unless the ponds are earth-bottomed, a programme of slaughter and disinfection will normally be successful. With earth ponds, however, there is more difficulty and very strictly controlled measures are necessary.
There has been one recurrence of infection, the reasons for which are being investigated.