Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 22 January 2008.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment has been made of the merits of (a) pre-movement testing of cattle for bovine tuberculosis and (b) the previous rapid tracing system.
Pre-movement testing has not replaced the system of bovine tuberculosis (TB) tracing carried out by Animal Health following the confirmation of the disease in a herd. The two measures are complementary. Pre-movement testing is designed to reduce the risk of the disease spreading between herds. However, it does not apply to all herds, just one and two-yearly tested herds, and no policy can be 100 per cent. effective. Tracings remain essential in containing the risk from animals which have moved out of herds that are subsequently found to be infected.
Monitoring of the impacts of TB pre-movement testing is ongoing and key statistics are produced each month and published on the DEFRA website. Evidence to date shows that new TB incidents are being prevented by pre-movement tests. Infection is also being picked up earlier in high risk herds. Between
(1 )The published figures are an underestimate of the impact of the policy and show the minimum benefits only. The number of reactors identified do not take into account the benefits of herd owners utilising Government paid TB surveillance tests as pre-movement tests or the number of inconclusive reactors identified by pre-movement testing which have become reactors when retested.
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