M. bovis keeps on spreading

Sampling began last week in Taranaki and the northern half of Canterbury.  This week it is moving into the top of the South Island and the West Coast, to be followed by most of the North Island.

In each district, bulk milk is being sampled from each farm’s regular tanker pick-ups, then each farm is asked to provide vials of discarded milk from the farm’s ‘sick cow’ mob on two specific dates 14 days apart.

In Dunsandel, about 250 people packed the community centre to collect their sampling packs. During questions and answers, DairyNZ and MPI officials said the sampling should be complete nationwide by late March.

While eradication remains MPI’s preferred goal, the way forward will be decided when the results are in. All confirmed infections are now believed to be associated with the two known clusters in the Waitaki and Winton districts. 

Farmers are being told that MPI will notify them immediately of any positive test result. Where the results are negative – meaning the bacterium is not detected in the samples – farmers will be notified within 10 working days of all three samples having been tested. 

However, two weeks after sampling finished in the Ashburton district an MPI spokesman told Rural News that testing was still underway and results should start to be reported “from late February”.

As of February 13, the number of confirmed infected properties stood at 23, with two recent confirmations, one in each of the two known clusters.

The number of properties under Restricted Place Notices was 38 and the number of properties for casing was 305.

Meanwhile, whole herd culling has been put on hold until the results of the national surveillance are known.

However, MPI said it was doing targeted culling of selected animals on a case-by-case-basis, mostly for surveillance testing purposes.