HC Deb 20 January 1992 vol 202 cc23-5W
Dr. David Clark

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the confirmed cases of BSE in England(a) in 1991 and (b) before 1991 on a county basis.

Mr. Gummer

The information is as follows:

Number of cases
County 1991 (Provisional) Before 1991
Bedfordshire 54 69
Cambridge 49 93
Essex 70 112
Hertfordshire 46 110
Lincolnshire 119 218
Norfolk 443 384
Northamptonshire 181 208
Suffolk 204 308
Cheshire 777 678
Derbyshire 339 386
Hereford and Worcestershire 312 467
Lancashire 546 536
Leicestershire 412 597
Manchester 20 28
Merseyside 13 13
Nottinghamshire 84 16

Number of cases
Age at onset (years) Age known Age estimated Total
2 22 24 46
3 2,499 501 3,000
4 5,658 1,485 7,143
5 3,402 1,282 4,684
6 1,378 643 2,021
7 509 266 775
8 132 70 202
9 41 31 72
10 14 21 35
11 8 5 13

Number of cases
County 1991 (Provisional) Before 1991
Salop 386 610
Staffordshire 445 472
West Midlands 6 15
Warwickshire 191 248
Cleveland 22 32
Cumbria 536 463
Durham 60 96
Humberside 88 110
Northumberland 98 95
Tyne and Wear 5 3
Yorkshire North 721 939
Yorkshire South 55 82
Yorkshire West 106 109
Berkshire 91 162
Buckinghamshire 163 229
Hampshire 526 947
Isle of Wight 128 181
Kent 268 546
London 11 11
Oxfordshire 296 398
Surrey 140 243
Sussex East 228 351
Sussex West 387 636
Avon 404 533
Cornwall 1,464 1,915
Devon 1,965 2,738
Dorset 1,422 2,144
Gloucestershire 427 775
Somerset 1,876 2,184
Wiltshire 1,046 1,585

Dr. David Clark

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the location, including the county, of the incinerators which dispose of BSE-infected cattle that are currently operating in England and in each case give the potential capacity and actual capacity for throughput each week of infected cattle; whether he has plans to introduce new incinerators; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gummer

At present there are five incinerator plants in England used for the disposal of carcases of suspect BSE cattle. These are located in Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Somerset, Nottinghamshire and Avon. Along with two other incinerator plants in Wales these currently provide enough capacity to incinerate all suspect BSE carcases.

We expect that these facilities, together with another which will become operational shortly, should continue to prove sufficient to incinerate all such carcases.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give a breakdown of the age at death of cattle diagnosed as having BSE during 1991.

Mr. Maclean

The number of confirmed cases of BSE in 1991 in Great Britain by age at onset of clinical signs is as follows:

Number of cases
Age at onset (years) Age known Age estimated Total
12 1 1 2
13 1 2 3
17 1 1
Age unknown 1,623

Forward to