§ Mr. Neil TurnerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many new cases of BSE were reported(a) in the UK and (b) by other member countries of the EU in (i) 1998 and (ii) 1997. [96679]
§ Ms QuinNumbers of confirmed cases of BSE by year of report for the UK are as follows:
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1997 1998 United Kingdom 4,335 3,197 We do not have data for other Member States by year of report. The following figures, by date of confirmation, were reported to the Commission by Member States. The information was supplied by the Commission.
Member state 1997 1998 Belgium 1 6 France 6 18 Germany 12 Ireland 77 79 Luxembourg 1 Netherlands 2 2 Portugal 30 104 1 Germany has reported no homebred cases of BSE.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made towards developing a test for BSE in live animals; and what plans the Government have for implementing such a test. [97227]
§ Ms QuinThere are, as yet, no validated tests for the diagnosis of either BSE or scrapie in live animals. One test, developed in the USA, appears promising with respect to the diagnosis of scrapie in sheep and chronic wasting disease in elk during the pre-clinical stage of infection and while animals are alive. Scientists at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) are collaborating with their American counterparts to introduce this technology to the VLA where it will be evaluated for use to detect scrapie infected sheep. Although BSE in cattle appears to behave quite differently from scrapie in sheep in terms of tissue distribution, attempts will be made to evaluate the potential for the use of this test for BSE in cattle as well.
We have no knowledge of any other test that has been proven to have the necessary sensitivity and specificity for use on live animals.
§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many new BSE cases were notified in each month from January to August, broken down by region. [96487]
§ Ms Quin[holding answer 29 October 1999]: The following tables give figures for suspect BSE cases reported in the first eight months of 1999 by region for England and in the first six months of 1999 for Scotland and Wales. It must be noted that BSE has not been confirmed in all of these cases.
Number of suspect cases of BSE reported to MAFF in each region from January to August 1999:
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Eastern region 1999 Number of cases January 39 February 27 March 38 April 29 May 20 June 17 July 20 August 25 Eastern Region: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire and Suffolk
Mid & West region 1999 Number of cases January 62 February 62 March 79 April 58 May 60 June 66 July 61 August 46 Mid & West Region: Cheshire, Derbyshire, Hereford & Worcs, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Manchester, Merseyside, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands and Warwickshire
Northern region 1999 Number of cases January 39 February 39 March 52 April 32 May 28 June 33 July 33 August 27 Northern Region: Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham, Humberside, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire North, Yorkshire South and Yorkshire West
South East region 1999 Number of cases January 37 February 33 March 31 April 25 May 26 June 30 July 24 August 19 South East Region: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, London, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Sussex East and Sussex West
South West region 1999 Number of cases January 113 February 108 March 130 April 84 May 120 June 97 July 64 August 76 South West Region: Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Scilly Isles, Somerset and Wiltshire 669W
Scotland 1999 Number of cases January 6 February 10 March 5 April 7 May 6 June 5
Wales 1999 Number of cases January 20 February 28 March 18 April 21 May 19 June 11 From 1 July 1999 provision of figures for Scotland and Wales became the responsibility of the devolved administration of those countries.