§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which EU regulations govern the use of the gamma interferon test as applied to bovine TB. [69000]
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§ Mr. MorleyCommunity legislation on the control of bovine TB for purposes of intra-Community trade is set out in Council Directive 64/432/EC. A recent amendment to this will allow for the use of gamma interferon as an adjunct test. We await publication in the Official Journal.
§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with members of the European Parliament about a possible inquiry into bovine TB and its causes. [69002]
§ Mr. MorleyMy officials have had no discussions with members of the European Parliament on this matter.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will reply to the letter of 25 April from the hon. Member for Northavon regarding bovine TB. [60185]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 10 June 2002]: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 25 May 2002.
§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how long it takes on average for farmers in(a) England and (b) Wales to receive the results of TB tests on their animals. [68919]
§ Mr. MorleyFarmers are notified immediately when TB reactors are found in their herd. The average number of days taken for the culture results of samples taken at post-mortem to become available is given in the table.
Country Average number of days1 England 52 Wales 53 1The average number of days between the receipt of samples at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) and reporting of the results to the State Veterinary Service Animal Health Office. Figures are based on samples received at VLA since 1 November 2001.
§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what extra resources have been secured in order to clear the backlog in processing the results of TB tests in England. [68921]
§ Mr. MorleyA claim against the Reserve has been considering how best to use the additional funding when tackling the TB backlog.
§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what resources are being dedicated to ensuring that the results of TB tests on animals in(a) England and (b) Wales are processed as quickly as possible. [68918]
§ Mr. MorleyThe information is not available in the format requested, in that separate figures for England and Wales are not available. The planned expenditure for the 2002–03 financial year on the bovine tuberculosis testing programme at the Veterinary Laboratory Agency is given in the following table.
The TB skin test gives a result at reading. The owner is notified of the skin test results immediately. Skin test results are confirmed by microbiological culture of tissues removed at post mortem. The main time delay in getting results from the culture of mycobacteria taken from post mortem samples is due to the time it takes for the mycobacteria to multiply sufficiently to be identified.
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£ Planned expenditure Surveillance for bTB (infection status of cattle, farmed deer and exotic species in GB) 2,624,701 TB in cattle post-mortemed at VLA regional laboratories 10,673 Surveillance for bTB (infection status of badgers and other wildlife species) 573,568 TB in species apart from badgers and cattle 43,987 Total 3,252,929