Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Andrew George (St Ives, Liberal Democrat)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent report by Dr Andrew Conlan funded by his Department on the prevalence and spread of bovine tuberculosis in UK cattle herds.
David Heath (Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
DEFRA funded this research because many cattle herds repeatedly suffer from outbreaks of bovine TB, and by continually developing our understanding of how the disease spreads within cattle herds, we can continue to improve measures to tackle this disease.
The research shows that even if cattle tests could identify all infected cattle it would not stop herds repeatedly suffering from bovine TB in high incidence areas because of the high probability of re-infection from badgers and cattle movements. We need to tackle the spread of TB from all sources whether from badgers, cattle, or any hidden infection that remains in herds.