Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 28 February 2008.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many animals removed from farms in Devon as a result of investigations of suspected or confirmed cases of tuberculosis were returned to the human food chain in each of the last five years.
holding answer
The following table provides data for 2003 to 2007 on (a) the number of cattle removed from farms in Devon for TB control reasons; (b) the number of cattle with TB suspected at routine slaughterhouse inspection and (c) of these, the number of cattle where infection with Mycobacterium bovis ( M. bovis) was subsequently unconfirmed at post mortem examination.
Cattle removed under TB control measures( 1) | TB suspected at routine slaughterhouse inspection | M. bovis unconfirmed at post mortem examination | |
2003 | 3,767 | 5 | 2,337 |
2004 | 4,578 | 4 | 2,186 |
2005(2) | 6,660 | 14 | 2,931 |
2006(2) | 4,468 | 13 | 1,751 |
2007(2) | 5,383 | 29 | 2,013 |
(1) TB reactors, inconclusive reactors or direct contacts. (2) Provisional figures, subject to change as more data becomes available. |
Responsibility for inspecting TB carcasses and their associated offal rests with the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS). Under the EU food hygiene regulations, all the animals from Devon herds with no visible tuberculosis lesions, plus any cattle from those herds with visible tuberculosis lesions localised in one organ or one part of the carcase, will have been considered fit for human consumption by the MHS.
Yes2 people think so
No0 people think not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.