New Zealand on Verge of Eradicating Cattle Disease Mycoplasma

(Bloomberg) --

New Zealand may be on the verge of becoming the first nation to eradicate the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis, with only one infected property remaining.

The government began its elimination strategy four years ago as the spread of the bacterial infection threatened the health of its dairy and beef cattle herds. Since then, more than 176,000 cattle have been culled and 271 properties cleared of the infection, while the government has paid NZ$220 million ($144 million) in compensation to farmers who have lost their herds.

“When we took our one shot to eradicate we did so to protect our national herd from a painful disease, our economy from a sharp shock, and our rural communities from widespread anxiety,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement Thursday in Wellington.

“I want to acknowledge how tough it's been for those farmers who have lost their herds and stock genetics built up over decades,” she said. “No one in the world had attempted to eradicate M. bovis before, and if we were going to try something that had never been done, we needed to do so together.”

Mycoplasma bovis, which occurs in many farming nations, affects the health of cattle, and is spread between animals even if they show no signs of having the disease. It doesn't infect humans, and the milk or beef from an infected animal presents no food safety risk.

The remaining infected property is a large beef feed-lot and not a working farm, and planning is under way to start clearing it later this year, Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor said.

While the nation can't rule out occasional finds elsewhere, the government is planning to transition the eradication program to an agency under the National Pest Management Plan, he said.

“We are aiming to move from delimiting –- controlling the last known pockets of the disease –- to provisional absence,” O'Connor said. “This will be followed by significant surveillance testing of herds around the country to provide assurance there are no undetected pockets of disease.”