HC Deb 13 June 2003 vol 406 cc113-4W
Mr. Gray

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it is her policy that deer found dead in parts of the country where cows have been infected with TB should be tested for that disease. [115259]

Mr. Morley

TB in deer is a notifiable disease. Article 5 of the Tuberculosis (Deer) Order 1989 requires all deer carcases which are suspected of being affected with tuberculosis to be reported to the appropriate Divisional Veterinary Manager (DVM). This applies to all deer species, whether farmed, parkland or wild.

If lesions suggestive of TB are reported in a deer carcase anywhere in GB, tissue samples are sent to the Veterinary Laboratories Agency for bacteriological culture. If the causative organism of TB is isolated from wild deer in an area of the country that does not undergo annual TB testing of cattle, the DVM may instigate TB test checks of cattle herds in surrounding areas. This has been the standard Defra policy for many years.