§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of sheep scrapie have been notified in Great Britain during each month since notification became a legal requirement.
§ Mr. SoamesScrapie became notifiable on 1 January 1993.
The table provides details of the number of cases of scrapie confirmed in sheep by laboratory investigations from 1 January 1993 to 30 April 1994.
1993 1994 January 22 22 February 31 14 March 54 120 April 27 117 May 22 — June 17 — July 30 — August 17 — September 14 — October 33 — November 17 — December 2 — TOTALS 286 173 1 These are provisional figures and may be subject to alteration. Note:
Laboratory investigation of suspect cases of scrapie is not usually carried out for two years after the disease has been confirmed in a flock/herd.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what experiments have been performed in Great Britain over the last 10 years which involve the inoculation or feeding of cattle with infected material from sheep scrapie; and what were the results.
§ Mr. SoamesSince 1984 no experiments involving the inoculation or feeding of cattle with infective material from sheep with scrapie have been undertaken in Great Britain.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research has been undertaken in Great Britain over the last 10 years into the possible relationship of scrapie in sheep and motor neurone disease in the human population.
§ Mr. SoamesMotor neurone disease of man and scrapie of sheep are quite separate and distinct diseases. The Ministry is not aware of any such research.
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§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information she has on differences in the properties of strains of scrapie from Suffolk sheep from the USA and the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. SoamesScrapie isolates from sheep can be strain-typed by identifying their biological characteristics in mice. Strains which have been derived by selection in mice may not be the same as those existing in the sheep from which the material was originally obtained. This Ministry is not aware of any direct comparison of strains of scrapie derived from sheep in the USA and sheep in Great Britain, that have been undertaken using the same strains of mice in the same laboratory. However it is known that at least one strain of scrapie—as determined by mouse bioassay—is common to British and USA sheep.