Written question asked by Ann Winterton (Conservative) on Tuesday, 18 December 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 8 January 2002. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 January 2002 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Institute of Animal Health's polymerase chain reaction test for the foot and mouth disease virus in livestock; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Institute of Animal Health's polymerase chain reaction test for the foot and mouth disease virus in livestock; and if she will make a statement. [25196] Mr. Morley: The Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright has improved the speed of Foot and Mouth Disease diagnosis using polymerase chain reaction methods. This system involves the automated extraction of nucleic acid from tissues and robotic control of the reverse transcription reactions using a probe and primers capable of detecting all seven serotypes of Foot and Mouth Disease viral RNA. The results can be available in around four hours when fewer than 30 samples are tested. The sensitivity and specificity of the method is comparable with virus isolation in cell culture which takes several days.

Secondary information