Foot and Mouth

Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 5 July 2001.

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Photo of Peter Luff Peter Luff Opposition Whip (Commons)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many laboratory tests for foot and mouth disease were negative after 24 hours, but were subsequently found to be positive.

Photo of Elliot Morley Elliot Morley Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

It is correct that a laboratory test which is negative or inconclusive at 48 hours may give a positive result at 96 hours. This is because some samples may contain a very small amount of virus and it can take a second passage of 48 hours in inoculated cell cultures for the virus to be amplified to a level where it will give a clear result. Each cell passage takes 48 hours—ie 96 hours in total.

Of a total of 1,551 tissue samples which have tested positive for foot and mouth disease virus, 1,310 were confirmed in less than 24 hours and 241 were found to be positive after 24 hours. It is not possible to provide similar data for blood samples submitted together with tissue samples because when tissue samples were found positive the testing of the blood samples ceased.

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