§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what support his Department has given since December 1993(a) to the continued monitoring of infection in the wild badger population, (b) to research into ways of avoiding transmission of disease from badgers to cattle and (c) to co-operation with university departments on proposed studies about the effects of badger removal operations on the badger population and its impact on the subsequent spread of disease within the badger population. [21716]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 2 May 1995]: In the financial year 1994–95 the Ministry invested £370,000 in on-going work at the central veterinary laboratory and the central science laboratory on an ecological and epidemiological study of a badger population naturally infected with M. bovis in the Gloucestershire study area. A further £138,000 was invested in on-going work to understand the demography and epidemiology of badgers through the production of mathematical models of badger populations to assist in the development of M. bovis control strategies. The Ministry also continues to examine the carcases of wild badgers found by members of the public in the vicinity of farms where there have been cattle herd breakdowns for M. bovis in addition to those killed in Ministry badger removal operations.
In 1994 the Ministry agreed to fund a project over the next three years, now being carried out by Oxford university in collaboration with the Central Science Laboratory and the Central Veterinary Laboratory, to look at the effects of a badger removal operation by examining the behaviour of surviving badgers, their demography and dynamics, and effects on disease transmission. The Ministry has also just agreed to fund a project over the next three years, to be undertaken by the University of Bristol, to investigate the relationships between badger population density and size of social groups with different habitats, the distribution of M. bovis in badgers in south-west England, and the risks of transmitting disease from badgers to cattle.
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§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made since December 1993 regarding(a) research into the development of effective vaccines for TB in badgers and (b) research to develop new or improved diagnostic tests for the presence of infection in cattle and badgers. [21717]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 2 May 1995]: In the financial year 1994–95 the Ministry invested £217,000 on the development of a suitable vaccine for the protection of badgers against infection with M. bovis. Work on this project started at the Central Veterinary Laboratory in April 1994. Initially, this work has concentrated on understanding the badger's responses to the infection, in order to determine possible mechanisms of protection, and investigating possible vaccine candidates. A feasibility study has been completed and is due to be published in the Veterinary Record on 6 May. This work is progressing well although it is anticipated that it will take approximately 15 years to complete.
The Ministry invested £543,000 in financial year 1994–95 in on-going research at the Central Veterinary Laboratory to develop methods for the improved diagnosis of M. bovis in cattle and badgers. This work involves the identification and purification of potential diagnostic antigens, the development of appropriate laboratory-based assays of antibody and cellular immunity in infected cattle and improvement of the current skin test reagent. The preliminary results of this work are encouraging.