To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish the figures for bovine spongiform encephalopathy cases for each of the eight weeks ended on 23 February; and if he will make a statement.
The information for Great Britain is as follows:
| Suspect cases notified | |
| Week ending | Numbers |
| 5 January | 246 |
| 12 January | 292 |
| 19 January | 285 |
| 26 January | 292 |
| 2 February | 302 |
| 9 February | 324 |
| 16 February | 359 |
| 23 February | 362 |
Official Report, column 196, of increased compensation for confirmed cases referred not to the number of cases notified but simply to the number processed by my Department.
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has on the incidence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle involved currently or historically in clinical trials of bovine somatotropin.
The Southwood report describes epidemiological studies that were undertaken to establish the origin of BSE infection. These investigated the possibility of links between the disease and any type of treatment administered to the cattle concerned, and found that there was none. In my reply of 22 February, Official Report, column 900, to the hon. Member I said that I was not aware of any case of BSE in an animal treated with BST, but I now understand that there is evidence of one such case. This does not alter the conclusion that no link exists.