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Written question asked by Dan Rogerson (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 12 October 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 October 2012. It was answered by Anna Soubry (Conservative) on Wednesday, 17 October 2012 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people contracted bovine tuberculosis (a) through contact with cattle and (b) by ingesting products produced by infected cattle and what the biological mechanisms were for contracting the disease.

[123051]

Answer

Between 2007 and 2011, 97 cases of “Mycobacterium bovis” were reported in England and Wales, as shown in the following table.

Number of “Mycobacterium bovis” cases reported to Health Protection Agency national surveillance, England and Wales, 2007-11
Number of cases
2007
 20
2008
 16
2009
 16
2010
 23
2011
 22
Total
 97
Source:
Health Protection Agency

Of the cases reported, 38 had contact with cattle recorded.

From the 97 cases reported; 42 reported consumption of raw (or directly from farm) dairy products in their lifetime. Of these, only two reported consumption since

1995. The Health Protection Agency does not collect data on whether or not the dairy products consumed were from infected cattle.

The two most likely mechanisms of transmission to humans are (a) by ingestion of the organism in contaminated dairy products or (b) by inhalation of the organism expelled from the lungs of an infected cow.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
123051; 551 cc306-7W
Session
2012-13
Subjects
Cattle Diseases Bovine tuberculosis
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk