Volume 16: Reference Material
3. Statistics
Introduction

3.1 The Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), formerly the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) of MAFF, in Weybridge (Surrey), has been responsible for collating all the BSE statistics for Scotland, England and Wales since the beginning of the epidemic. ¹ BSE statistics for Northern Ireland have been the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (DANI). Because these two sets of statistics have been compiled on separate databases, Northern Ireland figures are not always available, or not always on the same basis as those for Great Britain.

3.2 In interpreting these statistics it should be borne in mind that, during 1986-96, the total cattle population of the UK remained fairly constant at around 12 million animals, broadly divided into 7 million beef and 5 million dairy cattle and calves. Over the same period, the sheep population was about 40 million.

3.3 The statistics presented here are revised rather than contemporaneous. For the most part, they keep strictly within the Report's terms of reference - ie, 1986 to 20 March 1996. Occasionally, however, they cover shorter periods within that time frame, and in the later tables (those dealing with BSE cases born after the ruminant feed ban, BSE cases by year of birth, BSE worldwide, other spongiform encephalopathies and CJD) they include data that goes beyond 20 March 1996.