HC Deb 02 November 2001 vol 373 cc918-20W
Mrs. Ann Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate her Department has made of the total number of sheep in the national flock possessing the genotype susceptible to scrapie. [11213]

Mr. Morley

There is currently only very limited information available on the distribution in the national flock of the 15 known genotypes that determine levels of susceptibility and resistance to scrapie. It is not therefore possible at this stage to produce reliable estimates. However, the limited data available suggest that about one quarter of the breeding ram population may be resistant to scrapie, and about two thirds of the slaughter population may be at least semi-resistant. There will be significant variation between different sheep breeds. It should be possible to produce more reliable estimates as an increasing number of breeding sheep come to be genotyped under the national scrapie plan.

Mrs. Ann Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department is implementing to eradicate scrapie from the national sheep flock; and if she will list the number of livestock culled by county in each year since May 1997. [11212]

Mr. Morley

The Government launched a national scrapie plan for Great Britain in July. This will breed resistance to scrapie into the national flock.

The plan has initially been targeted at producers of purebred, pedigree breeding sheep registered with a recognised breed society. We are currently consulting about rapid extension of the plan to the remainder of the pure breeding flock, including special action for scrapie-infected flocks. We are considering other ways of speeding up implementation of the plan and on 31 October we published a Bill that would allow the Government to take powers to remove from the breeding flock, on a compulsory basis, sheep with genotypes that make them susceptible to scrapie.

We are also consulting on ways to encourage the reporting of scrapie when it occurs, and next year we will be undertaking a survey to gain more knowledge of the incidence of scrapie, using rapid testing methods.

The figures for the number of confirmed scrapie cases by county in each year since May 1997 are presented in the table provided.

Cases of scrapie confirmed in sheep, by county, since May 1997
19971 1998 1999 2000 20012
England
Derbyshire 0 4 13 9 0
Leicestershire and Rutland 3 7 17 5 1
Lincolnshire excluding North 2 1 1 0 0
Northamptonshire o 5 4 1 2
Nottinghamshire 1 2 6 3 0
Cambridgeshire o 1 0 0 0
Bedfordshire 0 0 1 0 0
Essex 0 2 3 1 3
Norfolk 7 8 16 5 0
Suffolk 5 13 6 5 1
Cleveland and Darlington 3 23 22 8 0
Durham 3 2 1 1 1
Northumberland 2 2 5 9 3
Cheshire 0 0 0 35 9
Cumbria 26 39 62 40 6
Lancashire 4 13 7 3 1
Buckinghamshire 9 7 6 9 7
East Sussex 0 3 4 0 1
Hampshire 7 10 0 1 0
Isle of Wight 8 5 1 2 2
Kent 4 3 2 3 0
Oxfordshire 58 57 30 17 8
Surrey 0 1 4 3 0
West Sussex 2 4 4 2 1
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 2 6 13 23 16
Devon 6 18 71 67 37
Dorset 1 10 4 1 1
Gloucestershire excluding South 0 3 3 3 0
Northern Somerset and South Gloucestershire 1 0 0 2 0
Somerset excluding North 2 23 8 12 1
Wiltshire 7 8 13 17 3
Cases of scrapie confirmed in sheep, by county, since May 1997
19971 1998 1999 2000 20012
Herefordshire 3 1 0 0 2
Shropshire 2 7 7 8 1
Staffordshire 0 1 1 0 0
Warwickshire 2 10 6 15 4
Worcestershire 0 1 0 1 0
East Riding and Northern Lincoln 0 2 1 1 0
North Yorkshire 15 20 36 46 12
South Yorkshire 0 3 1 0 0
West Yorkshire 1 1 1 0 0
186 326 380 358 123
Scotland
Clyde Valley 1 0 0 0 0
Dunfries and Galloway 2 8 0 2 0
Fife 0 0 0 1 0
Highland 0 2 1 6 6
Lothian 0 0 1 1 0
North East Scotland 1 1 3 5 2
Orkney 0 3 7 2 3
Scottish borders 0 0 7 4 0
Shetland 60 90 91 64 37
Tayside 1 1 2 0 0
65 105 112 85 46
Wales
Carmarthenshire 20 28 29 40 9
Ceredigion 2 0 1 3 0
North East Wales 11 16 33 51 11
North West Wales 1 6 26 13 2
Pembrokeshire 0 0 0 0 2
Powys 4 17 16 17 0
South Wales 3 1 0 1 0
41 68 105 125 24
Total 292 499 597 568 195
1 May to December
2 January to September

Notes

Confirmation is by pathological tests (normally at least two types) Figures for 2001 exclude pending cases awaiting a test result, and will be lower for the same period in the previous year because of the foot and mouth outbreak

Mrs. Ann Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department has taken to establish a scheme for the valuation of sheep flocks and the payment of compensation for livestock to be destroyed under her proposed special measures for the elimination of scrapie from the national flock. [11214]

Mr. Morley

The Animal Health Bill was published on 31 October and includes an enabling power allowing Ministers to pay compensation for losses or costs incurred as a result of the provisions relating to scrapie in the Bill. If the scrapie provisions were activated, a decision would need to be taken at the time on whether compensation was appropriate. If a decision to pay compensation were taken, the details would be set out in supplementary regulations.

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