asked Her Majesty's Government:How many cattle have been slaughtered as bovine tuberculosis reactors within the areas in the South-West of England in which the Ministry of Agriculture have been gassing badgers in each of the last five years, and, of those so slaughtered, how many cattle were tested after slaughter for bovine tuberculosis, and in how many of these cattle were old lesions present and in how many could infection be cultured.

The numbers of cattle slaughtered as reactors in the counties concerned were as follows:—

1976	771
1977	457
1978	417
1979	289
1980	623

All were examined after slaughter for evidence of bovine tuberculosis and samples were cultured from the first animal(s) in a herd to react. When M.bovis was confirmed in a herd, samples from subsequent reactors were not cultured. It is not considered practicable to assess the age of lesions.