§ Mr. McLoughlinTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle were slaughtered because of bovine TB in each year since 1997 in(a) West Derbyshire and (b) Derbyshire. [124011]
§ Mr. BradshawThe number of cattle slaughtered under bovine TB measures in Derbyshire, from 1997 to 2002, is given in the table. The data requested are not available for the parliamentary constituency of West Derbyshire. However, as a guideline, approximately 90 per cent. of confirmed TB breakdowns over the period have occurred in the western part of the county.
Cattle slaughtered in Derbyshire under bovine TB control measures 1997–20021 Number 1997 61 1998 57 1999 255 2000 59 2001 45 2002 370 1 TB Reactors plus direct contacts Note:
In 2001, the TB testing and control programme was largely suspended due to the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak. Since testing resumed in 2002, resources have been concentrated on herds with overdue TB tests which would have had a longer period in which to contract the disease. Also the proportion of high risk herds being tested post-FMD is greater than that prior to the outbreak. As a result, the number of TB reactors identified and slaughtered in 2002 is not comparable to those identified and slaughtered in previous years.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will update the statistics on her Department's bovine TB website and reconcile them to the data on the incidence of TB collected by the British Cattle Veterinary Association. [124315]
§ Mr. BradshawEach month Defra publishes provisional cumulative TB statistics for the calendar year on its website, including the number of TB tests carried out, the number of new TB incidents and the number of animals slaughtered in each State Veterinary Service region (SVS).
There is a delay of approximately six weeks before the data appear, to allow sufficient time for data to be returned to the SVS and entered on the Department's computer system. The data are subject to revision over 149W a period of several months as additional data are entered. The most recent statistics on the website are for January to April 2003.
National statistics notices are also published on the Defra TB website each month. They are produced after a time lag of approximately three months, and therefore give a more complete and accurate picture than Defra's GB statistics.
We have no plans at the present time to reconcile our data with the data collected by the British Cattle Veterinary Association.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the collection of data on the TB 99 epidemiological survey. [124317]
§ Mr. BradshawAt 24 June 2003, a total of 703 TB99 case reports and 354 control reports had been entered on to the TB99 database for the badger culling trial areas. Defra is working hard to increase the number of reports e.g. by contracting ADAS Ltd. to assist the State Veterinary Service to complete TB99s. The Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB has advised that it expects to have sufficient data to complete an initial analysis by the end of 2003.