Written question asked by Owen Paterson (Conservative) on Tuesday, 18 November 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 20 November 2003. It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Thursday, 20 November 2003 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 the estimated population of badgers in England was between 1973 and 1980; and what the estimate is for 2003; how many closed dairy herds in England are registered with the Department; what steps farmers can take to ensure that their cattle are not exposed to M. bovis infection where pasture might be frequented by badgers actively shedding M. bovis vacilli; if she will make a statement on the conditions under which a badger is capable of transmitting TB to cattle; and what the mechanism of transmission is; what protocol was adopted for the ecological survey carried out as part of the Krebs trials; what the potential maximum period of infectivity of adult badgers demonstrating active lesions of M. bovis infection is; what assessment she has made of the success rate, in terms of the percentage of badgers killed in a defined area, of the policy of gassing setts adopted prior to 1986; how many cows have been subject to post-mortem examination for TB in each of the past 10 years; how many were found to be TB reactors; and how many of the reactors revealed tubercular lesions in the udder capable of contaminating milk. - No figures. I will write.

Answer: Mr. Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the estimated population of badgers in England was between 1973 and 1980; and what the estimate is for 2003; [140292] (2) how many closed dairy herds in England are: registered with the Department; [140294] (3) what steps farmers can take to ensure that their cattle are not exposed to M. bovis infection where pasture might be frequented by badgers actively shedding M. bovis vacilli; [140295] (4) if she will make a statement on the conditions under which a badger is capable of transmitting TB to cattle; and what the mechanism of transmission is; [140302] (5) what protocol was adopted for the ecological survey carried out as part of the Krebs trials; [140303] (6) what the potential maximum period of infectivity of adult badgers demonstrating active lesions of M. bovis infection is; [140305] (7) what assessment she has made of the success rate, in terms of the percentage of badgers killed in a defined area, of the policy of gassing setts adopted prior to 1986; [140311] (8) how many cows have been subject to post-mortem examination for TB in each of the past 10 years; how many were found to be TB reactors; and how many of the reactors revealed tubercular lesions in the udder capable of contaminating milk. [140315] Mr. Bradshaw: I will write to the hon. Member with this information shortly.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 413 c1202-3W;413 c1199W; 140292;140294;140295;140302;140303;140305;140311;140315
Session: 2002-03
Subjects: Death Badgers Cattle Disease control Protection Livestock Post-mortems Population Wildlife Bovine tuberculosis
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk