MPI still confident of eradicating M.bovis
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is intent on complete eradication of Mycoplasma bovis despite a dairy herd found infected with the cattle disease at Ashburton earlier this week.
MPI incidence response coordinator David Yard told a crowd of several hundred farmers in Methven on Thursday that the government believed the disease was controllable.
‘‘It hasn’t got away from us,’’ he said.
‘‘We believe that the increased number of infected properties is a better reflection of how hard we are working to find out what farms have previously been infected, as opposed to this disease running rampant across the country.’’
‘‘Our commitment to [farmers] is that the government is still working to eradicate this disease from New Zealand. We will throw all our available resources to hopefully remove it and put us back into one of two countries that is free from this disease.’’
On Tuesday MIP confirmed M.bovis to be present on a farm in the Ashburton area, bringing the number of infected farms to 14.
Yard said milk sampling carried out by the dairy industry just before Christmas revealed a suspected positive result at the Ashburton farm and tests by MPI’s Animal Health Laboratory confirmed this.
‘‘The affected farm and an associated property have been under controls since Christmas Eve as a precautionary measure. No animals or other risk goods such as used farm equipment have been allowed on or off the property during this time, and these controls stand,’’ Yard said
He said that as a result of the new find, MPI was now tracing animal movements on and off the farm to determine if there were links to other affected properties.
MPI would carry out checks and testing on about 30 different farms that had some association with the affected property.
‘‘Farmers in the area who have had some connection with the affected property will be contacted and those who do not hear from us in the next couple of weeks should consider they are under no increased risk from this most recent detection.’’
‘‘We firmly believe that with continued surveillance and tracing, together with the bulk milk testing, will give us a much clearer picture and confidence of how far this disease has spread.’’
Yard said MPI employed the Rural Support Trust to support affected farming families.
‘‘We have had instances where people have cancelled sales of animals from farmers who’s only association with the disease is that their neighbour has had a blood test. If you practise right on-farm biosecurity the risks of infection are very low.
‘‘Cancelling contracts, refusing to go on a farm to deliver feed; this is putting more pressure on people who need your support at this time. I urge you as a community to work together to support each other. Act sensibly, not just with a knee-jerk.’’
M. bovis is a common cattle disease in overseas dairy countries, but had not been detected in New Zealand until July last year. Since then it has spread to nine farms in South Canterbury, three in Southland, one in Ashburton and one in Hawke’s Bay.