§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the experimental farms involved in his Department's research into bovine spongiform encephalopathy; what control methods for the cattle will be imposed; and if he will make a statement as to how the research will be carried out.
§ Mr. CurryThe following experimental husbandry farms are involved collaboratively with the central veterinary laboratory in research into BSE:
- 1. Studies of maternal transmission and its incidence
- Boxworth
- Gleadthorpe
- Drayton
- 2. Studies to determine whether embryos derived from BSE-infected cows are infective for recipient dams and the progeny
- High Mowthorpe
- Redesdale
The animals used in both experiments, as well as those on all Ministry farms, will be subject to the same strict procedures that apply throughout Great Britain where BSE occurs or is suspected. In addition, the brains of all experimental animals that die or are culled at the end of these experiments will be examined histologically for evidence of lesions of BSE. The research is being carried out in accordance with recognised scientific procedures using the best scientific expertise available.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list by month for the last four years to date and by county, the number of cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy that have been reported in the counties of Yorkshire and Humberside.
§ Mr. MacleanBSE was made notifiable on 21 June 1988. Cases recorded before then are not therefore allocated by date of report but by other criteria, such as date of onset of clinical symptoms.
79W
Date North Yorkshire South Yorkshire West Yorkshire Humberside Total March 1986 1 1 0 0 2 June 1987 1 0 0 0 1 July 1987 3 0 0 0 3 August 1987 1 0 0 0 1 September 1987 2 0 0 0 2 October 1987 2 0 0 0 2 November 1987 2 0 0 0 2 December 1987 2 0 0 0 2 January 1988 2 0 0 0 2 February 1988 2 0 1 0 3 March 1988 3 0 0 0 3 April 1988 3 0 0 0 3 June 1988 1 0 0 1 2 July 1988 10 1 1 0 12 August 1988 12 1 0 2 15 September 1988 15 1 4 2 22 October 1988 12 2 4 2 20 November 1988 16 0 1 0 17 December 1988 11 1 1 3 16 January 1989 14 0 0 3 17 February 1989 21 1 3 2 27 March 1989 21 0 0 4 25 April 1989 20 0 2 0 22 May 1989 15 1 4 7 27 June 1989 23 3 1 3 30 July 1989 24 0 1 2 27 August 1989 26 1 3 3 33 September 1989 30 0 3 1 34 October 1989 28 3 0 3 34 November 1989 26 2 4 3 35 December 1989 32 3 2 3 40 January 1990 35 5 8 6 54 February 1990 57 3 8 9 77 March 1990 7 0 1 6 14 Total 480 29 52 65 626
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list, by location and date, the number of cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy diagnosed at slaughterhouses by his Department's health inspectors.
§ Mr. MacleanSuspect cases of BSE occurring at slaughterhouses have, from 1989 onwards, been recorded on a quarterly basis for each region. Information for 1988 is available as a total for each region from 21 June, when BSE became notifiable, to the end of the year. It has been the Ministry's long-established practice not to disclose South East details of premises from which notifiable diseases have been reported.
1988 Region Number reported Number confirmed Eastern 8 8 Midlands and Western 7 6 Northern 2 1 South East 3 3 South West 10 7 Wales 3 2 North Scotland 0 0 South Scotland 0 0 80W
1989 Region Quarter Number reported Number confirmed Eastern 1 18 12 2 14 11 3 5 5 4 14 13 Midlands and Western 1 1 0
Region Quarter Number reported Number confirmed 2 0 0 3 3 2 4 0 0 Northern 1 2 0 2 3 2 3 2 2 4 2 2 South East 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 0 South West 1 4 3 2 8 5 3 9 6 4 6 6 Wales 1 1 1 2 0 0 3 1 1 4 0 0 North Scotland 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 0 South Scotland 1 0 0 2 1 1 3 1 1 4 0 0