Written question asked by Lembit Opik (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 20 October 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 24 October 2005. It was answered by Caroline Flint (Labour) on Thursday, 3 November 2005 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Brucella Viruses

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps her Department has taken to assess the level of infection by brucella viruses within the UK population; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: Brucellosis is now a relatively rare human disease in England and Wales, following the successful campaign in the 1970s to eradicate Brucella abortus from cattle. Veterinary surgeons and farm workers are the occupational groups who are at greatest risk of acquiring brucellosis in the United Kingdom, because of their close contact with farm animals. A survey of farm workers in England was carried out between 1991 and 1996. A total of 404 farm workers were tested for brucellosis. Three, or 0.7 per cent. of them, all dairy farmers, had antibodies in their blood on enrolment into the study that indicated past infection with Brucella species 1 . All are likely to have acquired infection when the disease was more prevalent in cattle. All of them drank unpasteurised milk on their farms. No new infections were observed during the study. 1 Reference: Thomas D Rh, Salmon RL. Zoonotic illness in farm workers and their families: clinical presentation and extent: a prospective collaborative study. 1997; Health and Safety Executive Commissioned Research Project Number: l/HPD/126/308/90.

Secondary information