Cattle disease hits top South Canterbury farm
Ministry officials have tested a second South Canterbury farm owned by dairy farmers Aad and Wilma van Leeuwen as being positive for the incurable disease Mycoplasma bovis after insisting the investigation was ‘‘well under control’’.
This farm is linked to the initial property under investigation and is part of the 16 farm Van Leeuwen Dairy Group.
The van Leeuwens were ‘‘devastated’’ last week to find the outbreak on the first farm and resigned to having the animals put down after 150 cattle were confirmed infected. Only a few of them have been put down so far.
Aad van Leeuwen said he had wanted to kill the animals as soon as they were diagnosed to contain the disease, but had been advised initially not to. He said they did not know how the disease arrived on the farm, but it could have been in New Zealand for some time and only now been identified.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is continuing to sample and test for the disease on all farms in the enterprise, as well as neighbouring farms.
The van Leeuwen farms within the operation are under movement restrictions for stock and other goods. MPI regional controller Dr Chris Rodwell said last week the situation was well under control with support from the farm owner and farm managers. MPI was working closely with the van Leeuwens during a difficult and stressful time for them, he said. MPI’S focus was to identify affected stock and contain the disease by isolating affected farms. The van Leeuwens had already disposed of a small number of animals for animal welfare reasons.
MPI officials reassured farmers at a Glenavy meeting last week. Rodwell told the farmers that the disease was a slow-moving one that was transmitted by close contact between animals and not across big distances by wind or water. The disease is spread by animal to animal contact and can be present in milk and transmitted to other cows this way. The bacteria does not affect the safety of dairy products for human consumption.