§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many cases of human infection by Mycobacterium bovis have occurred since the inception of tuberculin testing of cattle in the United Kingdom; and how many occurred as a result of ingestion of infected cows' milk and how many from infected meat. [HL2293]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathIn the 1950s, prior to controls being undertaken, cattle to human transmission was thought to be responsible for over 2,000 human deaths a year and many more non-fatal infections. The main route of transmission was believed to be milk. Following the introduction of pasteurisation of milk and controls in cattle including the tuberculin testing of cattle, the numbers of confirmed humanMycobacterium bovis infections have fallen to around 40 a year, averaging 1.2 per cent of confirmed tuberculosis cases between 1993 and 1998. Many of these infections are in older people and are thought to represent reactivation of old disease. When infection occurs in children it is recently acquired. Between 1994 and 1998 only one of 342 (0.3 per cent) confirmed cases of TB in children aged 0 to 14 years was identified as Mycobacterium bovis. It is not clear whether this particular infection was contracted from infected milk or meat.
Following the Krebs report on TB in cattle, the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Veterinary Officer have set up quarterly liaison meetings to review the number of cases of Mycobacterium bovis in humans and animals.