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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Answer

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) total TB tests on herds, (b) herds under movement restriction, (c) tests on unrestricted herds, (d) new herd incidents and (e) new confirmed herd incidents there were in each county between 1 January and 30 March, and what percentage of tests on unrestricted herds in each county resulted in a confirmed herd incident. [65474] Margaret Beckett: [holding answer 1 July 2002]: The information is not available in the format requested. A statistical summary for Great Britain as a whole for the period 1 January to 30 March is given in table 1. A more detailed breakdown of the information requested in sub-points (a), (b), (d) and (e) is given in table 2. This is broken down by State Veterinary Service region for the period 1 January to 31 May. Statistics for unrestricted herds (sub-point (c)) are not available in the same format. All the statistics given are available on the DEFRA website at: http://defraweb/animalh/tb/default.htm. Table 1--Tb incidents in Great Britain in 2002--herds _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Date Total TB tests Herds under Tests on Of which: New Of which: New Tests on on herds{ 1} movement unrestricted herd incidents{ confirmed herd unrestricted restriction{ 2} herds{ 3} 4} incidents{ 5} herds resulting in a confirmed new herd incident{ 6} (percentage) January 2002 3,280 1,107 2,952 196 115 3.9 February 2002 4,747 1,381 4,423 366 {7}222-238 {7}5.0-5.4 March 2002 5,012 1,617 4,670 316 {7}4.0-4.4 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Note: Figures are provisional and subject to revision. {1} Herds for which tuberculin skin testing is carried out on at least one animal during the period shown. {2} Herds restricted at any time during the period shown due to a TB incident. {3} Any tests carried out during the period shown on a herd which was not already under restriction due to a TB incident. Also any cases found, during the period shown, by routine inspection at the slaughterhouse of animals from a herd not already under restriction. {4} Herds which were previously TB free but either had cattle that reacted to a tuberculin test or had a tuberculous animal disclosed by routine inspection at slaughter, during the period shown. {5} New herd incidents (column 4) for which at least one animal was subsequently confirmed to have TB. {6} Column 5 as a percentage of column 3. {7} Estimates for February and March 2002 are given as a range as a number of the test results are still awaited. It is expected that the final figure, when available, will fall within this range. Source: DEFRA's Animal Health Database Table 2--Detailed Tb raw data: 1 January--31 May 2002 Great Britain _________________________________________________________________________________________________. West North East Total for Total for Total for Total for GB England Wales Scotland (a) Total number of herd 8,140 4,271 1,576 13,987 3,903 2,309 20,199 tests (b) Herds under TB2 1,454 171 32 1,657 421 57 2,135 restrictions because of a TB incident at some time during the reporting period (d) Total new herd TB 820 129 17 966 226 32 1,224 incidents (e) of which are considered 472 69 5 546 116 9 671 confirmed new TB incidents (i.e. CNIs) _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Notes: In using and interpreting table 2 the following points should be noted: A proportion of TB incidents remain unclassified, awaiting the results of culture tests which can take several months. Therefore the number of confirmed incidents, for 2002 in particular, will currently be under-recorded. For instance, 9 per cent. of new TB incidents in January to May 2002 were unclassified when the data were extracted. The number of TB incidents depends on the number of tests carried out and on the nature of the testing regime at the time (as well as on the underlying prevalence of the disease). In 2002, testing resources are being concentrated on herds which are overdue their tests (because of the backlog following the foot and mouth disease outbreak) and which have therefore had a longer period than usual in which to contract the disease. Those currently being tested also contain a higher than usual proportion of high risk herds. During the FMD outbreak, TB testing was significantly reduced and necessarily targeted to higher risk herds e.g. those tested following routine inspection of animals at slaughterhouses. At any time, the more herds are tested, the more likely you are to find TB. It is therefore very difficult to assess the underlying trends at this time. Any reactors, inconclusive reactors and direct contacts still awaiting removal and slaughter on the date of the data download were not included in the tables. These only show the number of reactors, inconclusive reactors and direct contacts that had been slaughtered as at 11 June.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

65474; 388 c692-4W;388 c696W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Disease control Livestock Transport Testing Bovine tuberculosis

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk