§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what information he has concerning the geographical distribution of scrapie in sheep;
(2) what information he has concerning the susceptibility of different breeds of sheep to scrapie;
(3) whether he has any evidence to demonstrate any recent increase or decrease in the incidence of scrapie.
§ Mr. MacleanScrapie is not a notifiable disease and I therefore have no reliable information about its incidence, distribution or breed susceptibility.
§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has concerning the vertical transmissibility of scrapie in sheep.
§ Mr. MacleanDetection of the scrapie agent in placenta and epidemiological studies of the natural disease in sheep have demonstrated that scrapie is transmissible from dam to offspring via the placenta.