HC Deb 30 November 2001 vol 375 cc1173-4W
Mr. Clifton-Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what changes her Department is proposing on animal movement restrictions for those herds subject to 12-month test intervals for tuberculosis; and what(a) economic and (b) animal health and welfare assessments she has made. [19896]

Mr. Morley

Veterinary risk assessment suggests that there is an increased risk of spread of bovine TB from herds where the test is overdue and that the risk is greatest in areas with a higher historic incidence of TB.

One way to minimise this risk would be to place such herds under movement restrictions until tested clear. This would entail financial losses for some of the farmers affected. Coming so soon after FMD such a decision would not be taken lightly.

DEFRA officials are assessing the levels of risk that attach to different types of herd and whether placing some herds under restriction would be proportionate. As part of this exercise officials are discussing proposals with the NFU and other stakeholders. No decision has yet been reached.

Mr. Clifton-Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made in the last six months of the threat of tuberculosis to(a) human and (b) animal health. [19897]

Mr. Morley

Tuberculosis in cattle is caused by the organismM. bovis and this can also cause tuberculosis in humans. Most tuberculosis in humans is caused by a different organism M. tuberculosis.

There remains a growing threat to cattle health from M. bovis TB. Provisional statistics show that last year new incidents of cattle TB were confirmed in some 1,000 herds and just over 8,300 cattle were slaughtered under disease control measures. Incidence was projected to rise by some 20 per cent. in 2001. Incidence is higher in the south west than elsewhere in England. It is not yet clear what the effect of the suspension of TB testing during the FMD epidemic has been on disease transmission within herds.

The occurrence of bovine tuberculosis in humans remains rare and runs at about 50 cases a year. There is no evidence of an upward trend. Most cases are thought to arise from re-activation of infection caught before the introduction of widespread pasteurisation of most milk in the 1950s or from infection caught abroad. The geographic spread of incidence in humans does not reflect the geographic spread of the disease in cattle in England. The threat of cattle TB to humans continues to be assessed as low but the situation is under regular review. The recent rise of M. tuberculosis TB in humans is of greater concern.