M bovis eradication ‘in reach’
The Government is now confident it can eradicate cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis from New Zealand.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced yesterday that the Government had cleared 51 properties of the disease, with 32 properties left.
She said the experts were now more optimistic than they had been just six months ago, with the evidence showing the disease had reached New Zealand in late-2015 or early-2016, not earlier. This meant it had not spread as far as some had feared.
If New Zealand manages to eradicate the disease, it would be a world first. It is present in most dairying countries, and farmers have learned to manage it.
Two testing programmes had shown no undetected clusters of the disease and a test of every dairy farm showed just three infected properties, all of which were part of a tracing programme. A further beef calf rearing survey had shown positive test results.
‘‘We have received feedback from the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) that shows the eradication response is making substantial progress,’’ Ardern said. ‘‘The response started nearly 18 months ago and as the Coalition Government and the farming industry learns more about the disease, processes may change, but at this stage I have confidence the approach we are taking to eradicate is the right one and we remain committed to this.’’
The Government announced earlier this year it would cull around 152,000 cattle in an effort to eradicate the disease, which some other nations have learnt to live with.
This plan was estimated to cost about $886 million. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said the Government was remaining vigilant.
Federated Farmers dairy chairman Chris Lewis said: ‘‘We are cautiously optimistic . . . We certainly aren’t out of the woods yet.’’
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