Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many calves have been born, during the incubation period for the disease, to cows later certified as having bovine spongiform encephalopathy; and what is his Department's policy on the slaughter of such calves.
§ Mr. MacleanIt is estimated that some 20,000 calves could have been born to cows later confirmed as having BSE. There is no evidence that BSE can be transmitted from cow to calf and therefore no scientific justification for such calves to be slaughtered.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cows have been certified as contracting bovine spongiform encephalopathy in each year from 1985 to the present.
§ Mr. MacleanThe information is as follows:
Year of confirmation Number of cases 1985 0 1986 4 1987 149 1988 1,910 11989 6,037 8,100 1 Up to 27 November 1989.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what inquiries are made 305W about calves to which a cow found to be suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy has given birth during the incubation period of the disease.
§ Mr. MacleanA comprehensive epidemiological inquiry is made into every case of BSE including information on calves.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what tests are carried out on calves of cows certified as having bovine spongiform encephalopathy to see whether they are carrying the disease.
§ Mr. MacleanNo diagnostic test exists to determine sub-clinical BSE in a live animal.
§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing the number of confirmed cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy for each county of England and Wales for the four-week period ended 16 November.
§ Mr. MacleanThe information is as follows:
306W
Number of cases of BSE confirmed 20 October—16 November 1989 County Number Bedfordshire 3 Cambridgeshire 2 Essex 3 Hertfordshire 6 Lincolnshire 7 Norfolk 5 Northamptonshire 10 Suffolk 8 44 Cheshire 12 Deryshire 13 Hereford and Worcestershire 12 Lancashire 15 Leicestershire 19 Nottinghamshire 7 Shropshire 9 Staffordshire 8 Warwickshire 11 106 Cleveland 2 Cumbria 11 Durham 5 Humberside 2 Northumberland 4 Tyne and Wear 1 Yorkshire North 22 Yorkshire South 2 Yorkshire West 1 52 Berkshire 3 Buckinghamshire 5 Hampshire 26 Isle of Wight 4 Kent 11 Oxfordshire 5 Surrey 6 Sussex East 12 Sussex West 19 Avon 15 Cornwall 45 Devon 40 Dorset 51 Gloucestershire 28 Somerset 66 Wiltshire 35 280 Clwyd 7 Dyfed 18 Glamorganshire M 2 Glamorganshire S 7
County Number Gwent 9 Gwynedd 1 Powys 5 49 622