Bovine Tuberculosis The Countess of Mar 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 Minister of State, Department of Health(Lord Warner) 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.