Three years to the day since the first case of Mycoplasma bovis was detected, New Zealand remains on track to eradicate the deadly cattle disease.
Similar to the approach to Covid-19, a focus on contact tracing has proved crucial in the Government's effort to stamp it out.
“I feel quite humbled to have been the minister through this, but we’ve still got a wee way to go,” says Biosecurity and Agriculture minister Damien O’Connor.
In the last three years, 250 properties have been confirmed with having the disease. Right now there are just four active cases.
All up 157,854 animals have been culled, with $166 million paid out in compensation.
Rangiora farmer Martin Ashby lost just over 1000 of his cows to the disease, but says life is finally starting to return to normal.
“I think if we can get ourselves in to a position where we’re one of the few countries in the world that don’t have this issue, then it’s got to be beneficial to our export,” says Ashby.
The disease was first detected on a farm in North Otago on July 22 2017.
Three years later and optimism is strong New Zealand can become the first country to eradicate the disease.
On the third anniversary of the discovery, the number of infected properties is down to six, from a peak of 250.
“We have a tail as we finish off, so we will see smaller amounts of cases, but we’ve got a large net now trying to catch those cases,” says Federated Farmers national dairy chair Wayne Langford.
Monitoring of the disease will continue for the next five to 10 years, to ensure all traces of the disease are gone.
A successful start, for something many thought was once impossible.
SHARE ME