An edition of the Tyne Tees Television rural affair programme Landmark presented by Eric Robson. In this edition a report on bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE in dairy cattle followed by a report into commercial deer farming and the dangers of the transmission of Tuberculosis to farm workers. Title: Tyne Tees Title: Landmark From the veterinary Investigation Centre at Thirsk Robert Higgins, Pathologist for the Ministry of Agriculture shows how testing for bovine spongiform...

An edition of the Tyne Tees Television rural affair programme Landmark presented by Eric Robson. In this edition a report on bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE in dairy cattle followed by a report into commercial deer farming and the dangers of the transmission of Tuberculosis to farm workers. Title: Tyne Tees Title: Landmark From the veterinary Investigation Centre at Thirsk Robert Higgins, Pathologist for the Ministry of Agriculture shows how testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE is carried out. The results are used for working out compensation which is currently 50% of the value of the animal. Ian Grant President of the National Farmers Union of Scotland considers this to be inadequate. James Seed, Regional Veterinary Officer for Ministry of Agriculture does not believe there is danger to humans. However, Dr Tom Holt, Senior House Officer at South Cleveland Hospital is not convinced and believes further testing is required. Dr Hugh Fraser from the Institute of Animal Health Edinburgh is looking into the disease which he confirms is a form of scrapie, a disease found in sheep, but in cattle. Brian Aldridge from the Royal Dick Veterinary School is looking to find BSE in live cows and is using the same brain scanning machine used in humans to identify Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease. He is surprised in the lack of government funding in this area, his work is still experimental. The report ends by asking each of those interviewed if their eating habits have changed? Dr James Seed says it hasn't as he doesn't believe there is a danger to consumers. Dr Hugh Fraser is more cautious when buying meat while Dr Tom Holt doesn't buy anything that contains animal offal. Title: Landmark The second part begins with an interview with Anne Hutchinson who runs The Haining Farm in the Wark Forest in Northumberland with husband Todd. As well as cattle they have a herd of deer. They are worried about the potential dangers of transmitting Tuberculosis to farm workers and believe that there should be compulsory testing on all animals. Currently it costs £250 for the first 5 animals and £35 per animal after that. She also favours a compulsory slaughter policy if tuberculosis found. However, currently there is no compensation. The costs of testing and potential culling costs are high. Interview with Dr Hugh Reid of the Moredun Research Institute Edinburgh. The disease originated from a single herd imported into the UK from Eastern Europe and where deer where then sold into five different herds. Current Tb testing in inadequate. There is a danger that Tb could be passed to deer from badgers. He believes there should be a national routine of testing. This is a serious problem, but they caught it early so steps can be taken to control it. Farmers should only buy deer from accredited farms. There is a very serious risk to human health from those who come into contact with infected animals. He suggests getting the BSG jab and getting regular check-ups with your GP. He doesn't believe the problem will get through to consumers, but possibly transmittable to cattle. He isn't confident the scientific community is on top of the situation, more financial commitment from the ministry is required. Title: Hoi Pollio Film & Video Credit: Camera Chris Sutcliffe, Richard Edwards Credit: Sound Paul Gunn Credit: Electrician Bill Hughes Credit: Research William Moult, John Parry Credit: Production Assistant Pauline Grant Credit Production Secretary Coreen Harvey Credit: VT Editors Sally Fryer, Peter Telford Credit: Executive Producer Chris Potter Credit Director Simon Lawson Credit: Producer Charles Bowden End credit: A Waterfront Production for Tyne Tees Television © MCMLXXXVIII