Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what testing facilities are available for Mycoplasma Bovis within the UK.

There are various testing facilities in the UK and more than one testing method. Post-mortem examination and sampling is the most effective way of testing for this pathogen, but blood samples and nasal or tracheal samples can be used in the live animal.

The testing facilities include:

1. Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) Veterinary Investigation Centres in England and Wales
2. APHA Mycoplasma department
3. Scotland's Rural College Veterinary Investigation Centres and laboratories in Scotland
4. Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute Veterinary Investigation Centres and laboratories in Northern Ireland
5. APHA Partner Post-mortem Providers in England and Wales
6. Various private laboratories in UK for samples collected by private veterinarians on-farm

The GB network of testing facilities can be found here: http://apha.defra.gov.uk/vet-gateway/surveillance/diagnostic/national-network.htm.