§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish in the Official Report an updated table showing the number of cases of BSE confirmed in Great Britain each week in 1999 and in the current year to date, together with the moving annual total of cases reported in each 52-week period. [HL737]
§ Baroness HaymanThe following table shows the number of cases of BSE confirmed in Great Britain during each week of 1999 and in the current year to 3 February, together with the moving annual total of cases reported for each 52-week period.
145WA
Week Number Number confirmed each week 52 week Total Reported 1999 1 16 4,232 2 131 4,226 3 90 4,173 4 90 4,150 5 50 4,126 6 127 4,119 7 46 4,079 8 74 4,052 9 149 4,024 10 72 4,019 11 91 3,999 12 60 3,974 13 53 3,942 14 31 3,908 15 74 3,875 16 44 3,849 17 59 3,822 18 48 3,813 19 23 3,820 20 66 3,780 21 72 3,786 22 19 3,770 23 24 3,761 24 15 3,737 25 71 3,723 26 79 3,697 27 50 3,662 28 30 3,642 29 38 3,632 30 50 3,599 31 63 3,591 32 61 3,557 33 26 3,532 34 21 3,490 35 17 3,473 36 73 3,431 37 51 3,412 38 74 3,387 39 15 3,358 40 13 3,315 41 33 3,270 42 82 3,259 43 76 3,196 44 23 3,155
Week Number Number confirmed each week 52 week Total Reported 45 23 3,124 46 33 3,094 47 38 3,088 48 35 3,069 49 19 3,044 50 28 3,016 51 32 2,994 52 0 2,984 2000 1 33 2,957 2 60 2,906 3 13 2,874 4 25 2,846 5 13 2,818 Note: 1999 Week 1 is the week ending Friday 8 January. 2000 Week 1 is the week ending Friday 7 January.
As a result of the sampling of heads from cattle slaughtered under the Over Thirty Month Scheme (OTMS) during the first quarter of 1999, an extra 18 BSE cases were confirmed. These have been included in the figures for confirmed cases for week 30. These 18 OTMS survey cases are excluded from the column for reported cases as they were not reported and placed under restriction while alive.
The data for reported cases excludes one private submission which was included in data already supplied to the noble Lord, Lord Marlesford, by my predecessor, my noble friend Lord Donoughue, on 29 July 1999, Official Report, col. WA 221 This private submission, which tested positive, remains recorded as a confirmed case.
It should be noted that the rate of confirmation may not closely reflect the progress of the epidemic. This is because there may be a variable and sometimes long delay between slaughter and confirmation as a result of delays in laboratory diagnosis and administrative procedures. The delay between slaughter and confirmation is on average six to eight weeks, but may on occasion be considerably longer.