§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the recorded incidences of rabbit haemorrhagic disease in the United Kingdom in each of the list five years, indicating if the rabbits concerned were(a) domestic and (b) wild. [128308]
§ Mr. Nick BrownViral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits (RVHD) was a notifiable disease from 1991 until 21 October 1996 in Great Britain, and until 21 August 1997 in Northern Ireland.
The number of outbreaks notified in 1995 and 1996 in the United Kingdom were:
1995 19961 Wild rabbits 35 23 Domestic/Farmed 479 249 Total 514 272 1 to October for Great Britain In Northern Ireland in the period 1 January to 21 August 1997, two outbreaks of RVHD in domestic rabbits were notified.
The disease is now endemic in wild and domestic rabbits in the United Kingdom. Therefore the number of outbreaks are no longer recorded.