asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many cases of bovine tuberculosis have occurred in humans in the United Kingdom for each year since 1995; what were the age groups of those infected; how many of the cases were attributed to drinking raw milk from cows infected with bovine tuberculosis from farms in the United Kingdom; in how many cases the disease was believed to have been acquired from sources outside the United Kingdom; and what has been the outcome of treatment. [HL7890]
The number of cases of bovine tuberculosis which have occurred in humans in the United Kingdom for each year since 1995:
UK 1995 32 1996 37 1997 46 1998 40 1999 41 2000 29 2001 33 2002 19 2003 21 2004 21 2005 39
Age groups of those infected:
0-14 15-44 45-64 65+ N/K Total 1995 0 3 7 19 3 32 1996 0 2 11 20 4 37 1997 2 8 8 28 0 46 1998 0 7 10 21 2 40 1999 0 8 16 17 0 41 2000 0 7 10 11 1 29 2001 0 5 8 20 0 33 2002 0 3 3 15 1 19 2003 1 2 6 12 0 21 2004 0 8 3 9 1 21 2005 0 12 10 17 0 39
Three-quarters of the cases reported between 1994 and 2004 involved individuals aged 50 years and above. This suggests that a majority of the cases are attributable to re-activation of latent infection, possibly acquired prior to implementation of controls such as milk pasteurisation and tuberculin screening of cattle. Information on non-UK sources of infection is not available. For the majority of cases, information on the outcome of treatment is not held centrally.