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Written question asked by Countess of Mar (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Bach (Labour) on Monday, 20 June 2005.


Bovine Tuberculosis

Question
Whether, in their consultations on the proposals to require pre-movement testing of cattle for bovine tuberculosis, the possibility was raised that an animal might be either in the early stages of infection before antibodies develop or at a later stage when its immune system is unable to respond to the test; and, if so, what conclusion was reached.
Answer

The limitations of the tuberculin skin test are recognised in the report of the Independent Pre-movement Testing Stakeholder Group, which was published on Defra's website on 1 June. The document is available at www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/pdf/pre–movementtest.pdf. The Government are now considering the recommendations of the group along with colleagues from Scotland and Wales before going to public consultation later this year.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
448; 672 c157WA
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Cattle Disease control Standards Transport Testing Bovine tuberculosis