TUBERCULOSIS IN CATTLE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29246, 2 July 1960, Page 4

TUBERCULOSIS IN CATTLE

“Poor” Response To Testing

(New Zealand Preee AMOctaKen) WEIJJNGTOH. July 1. Disappointment that the rate of progress in the voluntary achaane for tuberculosis tatting of dairy herds had not been maintained was expressed by the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Skinner). Spekking to the Dominion dairy conference, he said the scheme was introduced in factory supply herds in 1958 when it made excellent progress in the first season. particularly in the northern half of the North Island. The same progress had not continued. It was disappointing that since the inception of the scheme, only 502 herds in the South Island had been tested, even though the incidence of the disease was known to be low there.

The first steps in controlling the disease had been taken and, he said, it was his sincere hope that all interests would unite to reach the stage when New Zealand could say her dairy herds were free of the disease.

Approximately 70 per cent of all town-milk herds were under repetitive testing, and it was expected that tuberculosis would be eradicated from these herds in the “not too distant future.” The efficiency of the tubercullin test was evidCTit in the fact that the incidence of tuberculosis had been reduced from 10.3 per cent, in animals tested for the first time to 1.1 per cent after repeat tests.