§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cattle born after July 1988 were reported by farmers to the MAFF veterinary officers as having BSE; and what percentage were accepted by them as possible BSE cases in 1992 and 1993.
§ Mr. SoamesInformation about the age of cattle which are reported to the Ministry as suspect BSE cases, but which are not placed under movement restrictions after being examined by Ministry veterinary officers, is not held centrally. The information requested could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
In 1992 and 1993, 2,756 and 8,393 cattle born after 18 July 1988 were placed under movement restrictions, and of these 1,574 and 6,337 were subsequently confirmed by laboratory examination as suffering from BSE. The figures for the two years are not directly comparable, that the number of cattle in the population which were born after 18 July 1988 was greater in 1993 than in 1992.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in what EU countries other than the United Kingdom BSE has been found in cattle.
§ Mr. SoamesFrance, Denmark, Germany, Republic of Ireland, and Portugal have reported one or more cases of BSE.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what amount of money was paid to farmers as compensation for cases of BSE in cattle in each year from 1988; and what amount has been paid so far in the current year.
§ Mr. SoamesThe information requested is as follows:
93W
Year Compensation £ 1988 527,142 1989 2,826,788 1990 9,114,743 1991 16,329,348 1992 29,211,593 1993 38,054,040 19941 9,189,290 Total 105,252,944 1As at 31 March 1994
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of cattle accepted as possible BSE cases by MAFF veterinary officers were confirmed histologically to suffer from BSE in each year from 1988 to 1993 and so far in the current year.
§ Mr. SoamesOf those cattle reported to the Ministry as suspect BSE cases and subsequently placed under movement restrictions, the following percentages have been confirmed on post-mortem examination in each year since the disease was made notifiable:
Year Per cent. 1988 91.9 1989 88.5 1990 85.2 1991 86.2 1992 85.0 1993 83.7 11994 81.2 1The 1994 figure is up to 10 June and is affected by the seasonal variation in the diagnostic rate. The percentage of cases which are confirmed on laboratory examination decreases in the spring due to the higher incidence of other seasonal neurological disorders, including listeriosis and metabolic diseases, which cannot always be differentiated from BSE on clinical grounds.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which EU countries operate a system of whole herd slaughter for BSE; and what proposals she has to introduce it to Britain.
§ Mr. SoamesThe following EU member states operate or intend to operate such a policy as far as this Ministry is aware
France, Denmark, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Netherlands (initial cases only), Spain (initial cases only).In some cases herd slaughter is encouraged rather than enforced, and may be industry-funded.There are no plans to introduce a herd slaughter policy in this country as such a measure is not scientifically justified. All the measures introduced in this country since BSE was identified have been endorsed by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee.