Eradication hopes

Early results from nationwide bulk milk testing for Mycoplasma bovis suggests eradication remains possible, the Ministry for Primary Industries says. To date, more than 51,000 of around 70,000 tests have been completed and only three farms have been confirmed to have the cattle disease. Testing to date reinforces the theory the country is facing a single strain of the bacterial infection that affects cows. “All three properties were already part of our tracing programme and they all have previously known links to the disease. One of these properties was under surveillance and the other two were about to go under surveillance,” said MPI Mycoplasma bovis director Geoff Gwyn. The disease was first detected in a dairy herd in South Canterbury in July 2017.