§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on recent outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in other member states; and if he will make a statement. [151994]
§ Ms QuinThe Ministry is in constant contact with other member states and the European Commission. Animal disease issues are discussed regularly at the Standing Veterinary Committee in Brussels. My right hon. Friend the Minister will be discussing the situation with EU counterparts at the Agriculture Council on 19 March.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effect of European Community law on the spread of foot and mouth disease. [152663]
§ Ms QuinA detailed epidemiological investigation is being conducted into every confirmed outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The results of these investigations will be published. An assessment will be made of the lessons710W to be learned from the original cause of the outbreak and the factors that are contributing towards the spread of the disease in order to inform future policy.
§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has carried out an assessment of the risk due to BSE infectivity from burning cattle during the present outbreak of foot and mouth disease. [154476]
§ Mr. Nick BrownAn independent risk assessment from DNV Consulting which I commissioned is today being published on the MAFF Foot and Mouth Disease internet site. Copies have also been placed in the Libraries of the House.
The model used by DNV estimates that a pyre of 100 dairy cattle aged over five years old could result in a total of 7 x 10-4 infective units being ingested by those exposed. This would be spread over a fairly wide population and so the individual risk of exposure would be low. For examle, if the infective units were spread over 1,000 people the individual risk would be 7 x 10-7 infective units per person, in other words less than one in a million.
The recommendation of the Environment Agency is that there need not be any immediate change to carcase burning activities. The assessment will, however, be taken into account in guidance to Agency staff on factors to take into account if they are asked to permit sites for carcase burning.
This advice has come at a time when, in view mainly of practical considerations, I have decided to increase the disposal by rendering, in addition to on-farm burning, of carcases from FMD infected farms and dangerous contact premises.