Disease scare for dairy industry | Northland News | Local News in Northland

Northland's multi-million-dollar dairy industry is on alert after bovine tuberculosis (TB) was found in a large dairy herd.

The viral disease was discovered in Kaitaia in one cow during regular three-year herd testing for tuberculosis, carried out by Animal Health Board (AHB) contractor AssureQuality.

The infected animal - believed to be the first Northland-bred cow found with the disease - has been slaughtered.

Restrictions have been placed on the movement of animals on and off the farm.

The find has alarmed the dairy industry. Export markets require TB-free products and the disease  casts a shadow over New Zealand's "clean green" image.

Northland  is classified by the  board  as a TB surveillance area with a low disease risk.

Removal of the region's present TB-free status could mean permits would be required to move stock.

 It could also result in reluctant buyers (which hinders sales), more animal testing and extra costs for farmers.

No restrictions have been imposed on milk supplied by the Kaitaia farm.

 Pasteurisation removes the risk of humans getting tuberculosis through consuming milk from an infected cow.

Northland TBfree committee chairman Neil MacMillan, of Okaihau, said the AHB spent $52million annually in a bid for New Zealand to match the TB-free status of most of its major international trading partners.

He expected the AHB to bring the Kaitaia herd outbreak under control fairly quickly, but predicted that if the disease got established in possums and other wildlife in forests near Kaitaia it would cost millions of dollars to eradicate. 

Another Northland TBfree committee member and operations director for Farmers of New Zealand, Bill Guest, said the TB outbreak was "a big wake-up call" for Northland farmers producing 26 per cent of the nation's beef and 10 per cent of its milk.

"Whatever it takes, whatever it costs to deal with this, it must be done - ruthlessly if necessary."

Farmers had to be vigilant to keep infected animals out of the North, Mr Guest said, warning that complacency crept in when the threat was removed.

AHB regional co-ordinator Frank Pavitt, of Hamilton, said stopping the spread of infection to wildlife had top priority. Checks on wild pigs shot in the area indicated there was no evidence of bovine tuberculosis infection in surrounding wildlife.

He expected possums and ferrets in the area to be surveyed to establish they did not have the disease. Rats are not involved in transmitting tuberculosis.

Mr Pavitt urged hunters to take samples and contact the AHB on 0800 4824 636 if they came across any feral animals with pus-filled lesions or other signs of sickness.

A Northland deer herd was "depopulated" when an animal was identified with tuberculosis about five years ago and the last case of tuberculosis infection of cattle in the region was in 2001.

Mr Pavitt said four  AHB officials working on the Kaitaia infection "couldn't put a finger" on the cause of the cow's disease.

 They were retesting the herd and investigating the movement of cattle to and from the farm.

"There may be another animal in the herd which caused the breakdown," he said.

The herd contained animals not from "secure" sources and the infection could have come from "anywhere in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty or central North Island."

Mr Pavitt said the farmer involved had "done nothing wrong".

He and his neighbours - whose animals showed no sign of infection - had co-operated with measures to isolate the outbreak, Mr Pavitt said.