§ Lord Elderasked Her Majesty's Government:
If they will publish the most recent figures for confirmed BSE cases broken down by year of birth. [HL1480]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Hayman)The position in Great Britain as at 26 March 2001 was as follows:
Year of birth Total number of confirmed cases 1974 1 1975 0 1976 2 1977 10 1978 6 1979 41 1980 101 1981 261 1982 1,393 1983 4,462 1984 8,067 1985 11,065 1986 19,733 1987 36,876 1988 22,192 1989 12,652 1990 5,647 1991 4,591 1992 3,201 1993 2,454 1994 1,351 1995 379 1996 5* Unknown 43,322 Total 177,812 * A fourth case of BSE in an animal born in 1996 was confirmed on 9 February. The animal was born in January 1996, before the feed ban is considered to have been fully effective.
A fifth case of BSE in an animal born in 1996 was confirmed on 22 March. The animal was born in May 1996, before the feed ban is considered to have been fully effective.
The unknown dates of birth relate to cattle born before 1 July 1996, when it became mandatory for cattle to have passports which show their date of birth. In some cases it is not possible to confirm the date of birth of these animals from farm records.