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Kelly Hodel/Stuff
Last month there were no properties with active M Bovis cases, but now one property has tested positive again, highlighting how hard it is to eradicate the disease.
A property confirmed to have active M bovis has brought an end to hopes that New Zealand could be free of the disease.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) M bovis programme director Simon Andrew said in April there were no known cases of the disease after the last active confirmed farm in Banks Peninsula had all cattle removed and slaughtered in February.
“All the data we have supports that we are now hunting down the last bits of infection,” Andrew said.
But MPI cautioned then that it did not mean the disease was eradicated.
The new infected property was a dairy farm in mid-Canterbury and had connections to farms that historically tested positive, Andrew said.
It also neighboured a cleared confirmed property, he said.
“We are continuing to investigate the infection source and are working with the farmer to depopulate the property in a way that minimises disruption,” he said.
“As a result of the new infected property, we will be tracing animal movements and other risk events. This will likely see an increase in the number of farms under movement restrictions while we ensure the risk of disease spread is mitigated.”
No country had ever eradicated M. bovis, Andrew said.
Many farmers were now busy with autumn breeding programmes, he said, and should be cautious and keep records of animal movements through the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) programme.
“Keep bulls separate from the main herd for at least seven days to assess the health status and complete treatments like drenching,” Andrew said.
Mating was done through service bulls or artificial insemination.
Bulls that were in contact with infected cows and then moved to another herd were a risk for the spread of M bovis and should arrive on-farm properly identified, with their movement history details properly recorded in NAIT, he said.
The risk of transmission via imported semen was considered very low, especially after the introduction of a new import health standard last year, but low risk was not the same as no risk, he said.
“As a precaution, ask your semen supplier for advice on what testing the bull and semen has been subjected to.”
VETSOUTH
VetSouth director Mark Bryan talks about Mycoplasma bovis risks.
In September 2022 a new strain of M bovis was identified on a dairy farm in mid-Canterbury, which has since been depopulated, cleaned, disinfected, and had all movement restrictions lifted.
“Our extensive network surveillance combined with bulk milk testing and beef surveillance has not identified this strain anywhere else, but the extra testing of older imported semen will provide another extra layer of assurance,” he said.
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