Ashburton Courier: July 29, 2021

RURAL
16 Ashburton Courier, July 29, 2021
Five Star Beef Feedlot, at Wakanui,has been notedasapossible source of Mbovis infection.
Bufferarea for feedlot
Acattle­free buffer areahas
been placed aroundFive Star
Beef feedlot at Wakanui to
prevent anyrecurrencesof
Mycoplasma bovis in
Canterbury.
It is one of the changes put in
place after recommendations
fromthe Technical Advisory
Group (TAG), who found New
Zealandwas on track to
eradicateMycoplasmabovis.
Genomic information still
traced the outbreaktoasingle
source introduced aroundlate
2015.
MbovisProgramme director
Stuart Anderson said TAG
found themostrecent
Canterbury clusterwas likely
fromunrecorded animal
movements, and also
recommended Five StarBeef
Feedlot at Wakanui, near
Ashburton was ‘‘apossible
source of infection to be
examined closely’’.
‘‘Since the TAGfirst
considered information in
December, we have looked into
this property closely, tested
animals andtracedmovements.
‘‘Inthe Programme's view
thereare more likelysources
from withinthe clusterof
infected farmsitself, such as
animalmovements, shared
grazing,insecure boundaries
between neighbouring
propertiesandsharing ofdairy
platforms.
Acattle­free buffer area
around the feedlot would
remain in place, along with
strict biosecurity measures
being adhered to,untilitwas
PHOTO SUPPLIED
cleared of Mbovis.The
programme would work closely
withthefeedlotowner ANZCO
on depopulation,although the
exact timing of thathad still not
beendetermined. It will be
planned well in advance, he
said.
‘‘The feedlot is ofsignificant
economicimportance to the
local communityand careful
consideration is required to
minimise the impact of the
depopulation exercise on all
those connectedtoit,’’ hesaid.
“This includesnot only the
feedlot’sstaff andcontractors,
but also the farmers nationwide
whosupply it with livestock and
feedgrains.”
The group made14
recommendationstothe Mbovis
Programme­all wereaccepted.
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Mbovis on track
for eradication
It’s been four years since the
bacteria Mycoplasma bovis was
first found in New Zealand
cattle, and plans to become the
first country in the world to
eradicate the disease are on
track.
There are just three active
properties in Canterbury, all
located in Mid Canterbury, but
about 100 properties
nationwide under active
surveillance. More than $200
million has been paid out to
farmers in compensation to
date and more than 170,000
cattle culled.
Massey University Professor,
and vet, Scott McDougall, said
there was cautious optimism
that eradication was
achievable, but long­term
surveillance would be
required.
The eradication programme
had evolved significantly over
the four years, and had
significantly impacted on
affected farmers.
However improvements in
the process, shortening of
turnaround times for
compensation, as well as
support from numerous
organisations had helped to
reduce impacts.
“Not unexpectedly, due to the
at­times cryptic nature of
infection with this bacteria,
combined with unrecorded
cattle movements, cases have
been detected outside of
tracing networks via the
background surveillance
system,’’ he said.
‘‘The recent Canterbury
cluster, and anumber of
recent bulk milk test positive
samples, reinforce the need
for ongoing care with cattle
movements and National
Animal Identification and
Tracing (NAIT) recording,’’
he said.
Bovis causes untreatable
mastitis in dairy and beef
cows, severe pneumonia in
up to 30 per cent of infected
calves, and other symptoms
and was first identified in
July 2017.
In May 2018 the
government committed to
investing $880 million over 10
years to eliminate the
disease in New Zealand,
including farmer
compensation, something
never attempted elsewhere.
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