Question
What were the (a) number and (b) species of the zoo animals in which spongiform encephalopathy has been confirmed between 1988 and the present time. - Inc table.
Answer
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the (a) number and (b) species of the zoo animals in which spongiform encephalopathy has been confirmed between 1988 and the present time. [16129] Mrs. Browning: The following table gives the number of confirmed transmissible spongiform encephalopathy cases in animals kept in zoological collections in Great Britain as at 1 February 1997{1}: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Confirmed cases shown by year of clinical onset or year of Species confirmation 1986 Nyala 1987 Gemsbok 1988 {1}-- 1989 Oryx (Arabian) Kudu, Eland 1990 Kudu 1991 Eland(3), Kudu 1992 Puma, Kudu(3), Cheetah, Oryx (scimitar horned) 1993 Cheetah{2} 1994 Ocelot, Eland 1995 Puma(2), Eland, Tiger(2) 1996 Ocelot, Bison _________________________________________________________________________________________________. It is not possible to provide the data by date of confirmation or to give details of suspect cases which were not subsequently confirmed as central records are not compiled in this way. Furthermore, there was no statutory requirement to report diagnosis of a spongiform encephalopathy other than BSE or scrapie until November 1994. MAFF would not therefore have been informed of suspect cases for which laboratory examination proved to be negative. To provide the information in the way requested could be done only at disproportionate costs. {1} Two cases in Ankole cows were recorded in the BSE statistics for cattle for 1991. {2} Two further cheetahs were confirmed in foreign zoos, having been born and infected in a British zoo.