HC Deb 14 July 1993 vol 228 cc542-3W
Mr. Garnier

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement about the number of confirmed cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy which have occurred in Great Britain since the information contained in the progress report which was recently placed in the Library.

Mr. Soames

Up until 13 July 1993, 100,012 cases of BSE have been confirmed in Great Britain, 7,051 of these since the preparation of the progress report on 30 April 1993. The cumulative total of cases has no particular scientific significance and has no relevance to the epidemiology of the disease. What is more important is that the number of suspect cases now being reported is less than at the same time last year, and that the number of cases occurring in younger cattle has dropped sharply. These changes indicate that the ruminant feed ban is bringing the epidemic under control in the way predicted by our scientific experts and that with time the number of cases being confirmed will decline to a negligible level.