Thursday, 26 June 2014 13:54

FMD training in Nepal

Written by 

Prevention against one of New Zealand's biggest biosecurity risks – foot and mouth disease (FMD) – has been given a leg-up with specialist training in Nepal.

 

DairyNZ veterinarian Anna Irwin recently returned from Kathmandu, Nepal, where she was part of a five-day training camp run by the European Commission for the Control of Foot and Mouth Disease.

She says the experience highlighted the pivotal role New Zealand dairy farmers play in detecting the disease early.
"I found seeing the disease invaluable," says Irwin. "But it also brought home the importance of being alert on farms. Anyone working with livestock on a daily basis is in the best position to be our number one surveillance force.

"Foot and mouth is one of our biggest biosecurity risks, so we need to be prepared. The quicker something is picked up, the better our response will be."

Along with farmers keeping an eye out for signs, their use of New Zealand's biosecurity systems, such as NAIT (National Animal Identification and Tracing), will help prevent an outbreak.

"It's very important that farmers keep their NAIT records up-to-date, as animal tracing and accurate records are vital in any disease investigation. In any outbreak, the ability to reliably trace animals saves so much time," says Irwin.

"Nepal doesn't have anything like our system in place, which makes it much harder to manage and control the disease when animals move around so much."

If FMD were to reach New Zealand, it would damage the country's trade reputation and halt virtually all exports of meat, animal by-products and dairy products until at least three months after the disease was considered eradicated.

Led by the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Nepal trip provided training in the clinical recognition, diagnosis, investigation and control of FMD.

"Foot and mouth is widespread in Nepal and outbreaks occur frequently there," says Irwin. "The training gave veterinarians, government officials and other rural professionals from foot and mouth-free countries some of the skills required for a potential outbreak."

Irwin will share her experience and training with colleagues and farmers as part of DairyNZ's work with the government and other industry groups such as Beef + Lamb New Zealand, on being prepared for FMD.

Farmers should report anything they are unsure about in any livestock to the biosecurity line by calling 0800 80 99 66.

More like this

Keeping a watch on dairy farms

OPINION: Dairy farmers are under increasing pressure to safeguard their livestock, equipment and operations from a range of security threats.

Inconvenient truth

OPINION: You would've missed this one if you rely on mainstream media for your news, but your old mate reckons credit should go where credit's due: Emissions by dairy cattle decreased by 1.6% according to the latest NZ Greenhouse Gas Inventory report.

Taranaki dairy farms saved by $10/kgMS payout

Only this season’s $10/kgMS bumper payout has saved some dairy farms along the Taranaki coast from absolute disaster due to the present drought – dubbed as one of the worst ever for some.

Featured

LIC Space folds for good

Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.

Editorial: Time for common sense

OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).

National

DairyNZ Farmers Forum underway

Over 300 farmers and rural professionals have gathered in Hamilton for the first DairyNZ Farmers Forum for this year.

Machinery & Products

Shearing legend hooked on CanAm

Sir David Fagan, world-renowned competitive sheep shearer with 642 shearing titles worldwide and a knighthood to his name, now runs…

50 years of tractor pull

This year, the Fieldays Tractor Pull, in association with PTS Logistics, mark a major milestone – 50 years of crowd-thrilling…

The Wrangler's birthday bash

It's the Wrangler Limited’s 30th birthday and to celebrate the milestone a prototype of the E Series Wrangler - a…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Free speech

OPINION: The Free Speech Union is taking this one too far.

Drug survey

OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter