Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of herds had bovine TB breakdowns in 2015 which had also had such breakdowns in the previous three years in (a) high risk, (b) edge and (b) low risk areas.

George Eustice

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) maintains and manages this information on behalf of Defra and is responsible for its publication in the annual England TB surveillance reports. The data for 2015 is not yet available. The most recent data available is for 2014 and published in the England TB surveillance report for 2014[1]:

• High Risk Area: 3078 herds had a breakdown of which 1798 (58%) had a breakdown in the previous 3 years.

• Edge: 332 herds had a breakdown of which 85 (26%) had a breakdown in the previous 3 years.

• Low Risk Area: 107 herds had a breakdown of which 15 (14%) had a breakdown in the previous three years.

[1] Bovine tuberculosis: Infection status in cattle in England