§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research is being undertaken by or on behalf of her Department on bovine TB. [169744]
§ Mr. BradshawThe following table shows the TB research projects currently being funded by Defra (April 2004):
1651W
Code Research Project Contractor SE3004 Multivariate analysis of risk factors affecting tuberculosis incidence in cattle herds—phase 1 Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3008 Detection and enumeration of Mycobacterium bovis from clinical and enviromental samples Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3013 Pathogenesis and diagnosis of tuberculosis in cattle—complementary field studies Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3017 Development and evaluation of strain typing methods for Mycobacterium bovis Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3024 Low dose TB infection in cattle: disease dynamics and diagnostic strategies Queens University Belfast/Veterinary
Laboratories Agency
SE3026 Bovine TB transmission in restocked herds: risk factors and dynamics Warwick University SE3027 Pathogenesis and immunology of Mycobacterium bovis infection in cattle Institute of Animal Health
SE3028 The development of improved tests for the diagnosis of Mycobacterium bovis infection in cattle Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3029 An investigation of potential badger/cattle interactions and how cattle husbandry methods may limit these Central Science Laboratory
SE3030 Application of postgenomics to reveal the basis of virulence, pathogenesis and transmissability of Mycobacterium bovis Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3032 The long term intensive ecological and epidemiological investigation of a badger population Central Science Laboratory
SE3033 Housing of naturally infected cattle (field reactors) at VLA for immunological and bacteriological analysis Veterinary Laboratories Agency SE3107 Develop innovative methods to estimate badger population density Central Science Laboratory
Code Research Project Contractor SE3110 A molecular genetic analysis of badger social structure and bovine TB Central Science Laboratory
SE3116 The economic value in changes in badger populations Reading University SE3206 Genome sequence analysis of Mycobacterium bovis Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3208 Generation of vaccine candidates against Mycobacterium bovis Vererinary Laboratories Agency
SE3209 Testing of vaccine candidates for Bovine Tuberculosis using a low does aerosol challenge guinea pig modal Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3212 Testing TB vaccines in cattle Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3215 Development of immunological assays for the detection of Mycobacterium bovis infection in badgers Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3216 Development and testing of vaccines against badger tuberculosis Veterinary Laboratories Agency
SE3217 Kinetics of skin test response in bovine TB Institute of Animal Health
ZF0531 The ecological consequences of removing badgers from an ecosystem Central Science Laboratory
A full list of Defra's research projects can be found online at: http://www2.defra.gov.uk/research/ project_data/Default.asp
Defra is also funding the Randomised Badger Culling Trial and associated research (the Road Traffic Accident Survey in seven English counties and the TB99 Epidemiological Questionnaire), as well as a Gamma Interferon Policy Pilot.
A limited survey of wildlife (badgers, and deer with suspicious lesions) killed on the roads in the Furness Peninsula, Cumbria is also underway.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will respond to the Godfrey Report on the Government's tuberculosis strategy. [170134]
§ Mr. BradshawOn 6 April, Defra announced the publication of a report from an independent scientific panel reviewing the progress of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial and associated Defra research, as part of a wider review of Defra's science. The audit panel was chaired by Professor Charles Godfray FRS, director of the Natural Environment Research Council's Centre for Population Biology at Imperial College London, and comprised experts from the fields of veterinary and wildlife population epidemiology, applied statistics and population biology.
The Government will give careful consideration to the complex recommendations of the report. The review's conclusions will inform Defra's wider review of TB strategy. Defra has extended the deadline for the public consultation on the TB Strategy review until 4 June, to allow sufficient time for the assimilation of, and comment on, this report.