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More farms infected with M bovis

Gerhard Uys

A new property with Mycoplasma bovis has been identified, with another suspected to also have the disease, says the Ministry for Primary Industries.

M bovis programme director, Simon Andrew said the property was in the Wakanui area in Mid-Canterbury where strict biosecurity measures and a controlled area notice were announced last week.

Tests were undertaken to identify the disease on another property. It was likely the property would test positive in the next few weeks, Andrew said.

The property was identified through proximity testing of another confirmed property in the area, he said.

The property was primarily a cropping and seed farm, but had some commercial beef and dairy cattle, he said.

The notice came into force on October 13 and was a precautionary measure to restrict the movement of cattle in an effort to stop M bovis circulating in the area. It was part of a planned depopulation of a feedlot that was infected by the disease, Andrew said.

Depopulation could mean culling or the permitted removal of animals, he said.

An M bovis infection impacted animals at herd level, unlike other cattle diseases such as TB that could be found in one animal only. Therefore, if a herd was confirmed to be infected the whole herd would be culled, Andrew said.

Last week when new measures to tackle M bovis were announced there were 20 farms under direction. That compared to more than 300 at the programme’s peak in earlier years, Andrew said.

Properties under notice of direction meant animals could not be moved off a farm until testing was completed and clear results returned. Most farms under a notice of direction returned a negative result and were able to then farm as normal, Andrew said.

Bulk tank milk and beef and drystock cattle surveillance programmes would continue and farmers could expect to see M bovis eradication programme staff onfarm, he said.

Business

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2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281775633039125

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