§ Mr. Michael McNair-Wilsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made in implementing Professor Dunnet's recommendations on future research in relation to the problem of badgers and bovine tuberculosis; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonIn the light of Professor Dunnet's recommendations, and with the benefit of advice from the consultative panel, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Wales and I are now able to outline the broad programme of future research on badgers and bovine tuberculosis that will be undertaken by the agricultural departments. In determining that programme we have had to take into account the costs and objectives of each possible research project and the likelihood that particular projects will yield useful results within a reasonable time scale.
Like Professor Dunnet, we see as a first priority the development of a diagnostic test for tuberculosis in the living badger and I am therefore taking steps to strengthen the team at the Ministry's central veterinary laboratory (CVL) in order to accelerate work on this project. We are hopeful that parallel research also being conducted at the CVL may lead to an improved diagnostic test for the disease in cattle.
My right hon. Friend and I see as a second priority the continuation of field studies on badger biology and the transmission of tuberculosis being undertaken at the Ministry's Gloucestershire study area and we have therefore approved the continuation of these studies. We have also given careful consideration to the suggestion that there is a need for further field study sites but are bound to say that, having weighed the considerable costs against the possible benefits from such sites, at this stage we accept Professor Dunnet's view that they could not be justified.
However, despite the long-term nature of the study, we believe that the Ministry's collaborative programme of work with the Middlesex hospital into a possible badger vaccine should continue and we are making resources available for that purpose. We intend to take up Professor Dunnet's suggestion that further modelling and statistical studies should be undertaken with a view to increasing both our understanding of the epidemiology of tuberculosis and the likely effect of alternative control strategies. We also intend that the national survey of badger carcases for tuberculosis should continue in order to monitor the incidence of disease in the badger population.
Overall we are convinced of the need to maintain an effective and wide-ranging research programme on bovine tuberculosis in the hope that through it we will find a more selective means of badger control or, if possible, a means to tackle this serious disease without the need for any form of badger control. The research programme will be kept under continuous review with the consultative panel and details will continue to be published in the Ministry's annual reports on bovine tuberculosis in badgers.