§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice he has received from the Tyrrell committee on the question of the removal of bovine brains.
§ Mr. GummerAs I indicated during the debate on bovine spongiform encephalopathy on 21 May, I asked the advisory committee on spongiform encephalopathies to consider slaughterhouse practices. I received verbal advice from the committee on 13 June that the recovery of head meat from bovine skulls should not be undertaken after the removal of the brain. I have accepted this advice and have issued appropriate guidance to local authorities. I shall, of course, take account of any further advice that the committee offers in formulating future action on slaughterhouse procedures.
§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what procedures he has introduced to protect farmworkers who handle cattle placenta from the possibility of cross-infection with the agent responsible for bovine spongiform encephalopathy; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Patrick NichollsI have been asked to reply.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) has recently produced an advisory note on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) for farmers. This includes advice on calving animals suspected to be suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy, including the handling of placentae.
This advice has been discussed with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and reinforces the executive's advice on the procedures needed to minimise the risks of transmission of all infections from animals to man. The Health and Safety Executive is closely watching research developments in this field and will produce further advice as and when necessary.
§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what precautions are in force to protect workers in abattoirs who handle animal tissue deemed unfit for human consumption and bovine offals banned for human consumption from the possibility of cross-infection; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NichollsI have been asked to reply.
The Health and Safety Executive's field staff is available to give advice on work activities to employers and employees when necessary on any health risks associated with cattle, their carcases and their products which may be infected with BSE. The HSE has produced a free leaflet entitled "BSE and carcase disposal" which sets out hygiene precautions that will protect workers from diseases of cattle known to affect man. It has also agreed guidance that has been published by the British Meat Manufacturers Association which is being distributed to all slaughterhouses, and meat preparation and butchery sectors.
§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the possibility of the subcutaneous transference of the infective agent responsible for bovine spongiform encephalopathy; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanThe risk to human health from such transmission is remote, but the Health and Safety 203W Executive has issued advice to guard against occupational exposure by cuts and abrasions. Experimental studies are in progress to determine the transmissibility of BSE to various host species by parenteral and oral routes of exposure.
§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculure, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the distribution of the total number of confirmed cases of BSE, by county, in the United Kingdom in the four weeks to 17 June.
§ Mr. MacleanThe information for Great Britain is as follows:
204W
County Number Avon 20 Bedfordshire 4 Berkshire 7 Buckinghamshire 10 Cambridge 4 Cheshire 30 Cleveland 1 Clwyd 8 Cornwall 46 Cumbria 11 Derbyshire 23 Devon 97 Dorset 103 Dumfries 7 Durham 7 Dyfed 47 Essex 3 Fife 5 Glamorgan Mid 4 Glamorgan South 2 Gloucestershire 26 Grampian 15 Gwent 5 Hampshire 39 Hereford and Worcestershire 18 Hertfordshire 5 Highland 2 Humberside 4 Isle of Wight 9 Kent 23 Lancashire 18 Leicestershire 28 Lincolnshire 4 London 1 Lothian 1 Manchester 1 Norfolk 20 Northants 8 Northumberland 7 Nottinghamshire 5 Orkney 1 Oxon 13 Powys 5 Salop 24 Somerset 106 Staffordshire 26 Strathclyde 9 Suffolk 14 Surrey 4 Sussex East 15 Sussex West 22 Tayside 1 Warwickshire 13 Wiltshire 64 Yorkshire North 33 Yorkshire South 5 Yorkshire West 8 Total 1,041
§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under what circumstances cattle may be awarded a veterinary certificate stating they are free from BSE; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanThere is no test for BSE in the live animal, so no such certificate can be given.
§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken to ascertain whether BSE or a related condition is present in Holsteins of north American origin; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanBSE has been confirmed in most breeds, including Holsteins. I am not aware that any of these originated in north America. The epidemiological survey carried out into BSE discounts imported cattle as being the cause.
§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the infective agent responsible for BSE has been detected in cattle placenta; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanNo, but transmission experiments are in progress using placenta from BSE-affected cattle.