Animal Disease Bill Near £60m

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30677, 17 February 1965, Page 8

Animal Disease Bill Near £60m

(A’ew Zealand Press Assocvi:ion) AUCKLAND, February 16. The financial loss to New Zealand through animal disease could conservatively be estimated at £5O to £6O million a year or 15 per cent of the gross value of primary production, said Professor I. J. Cunningham, dean of the New Zealand Veterinary School, at the Science Congress today.

Professor Cunningham said £400.000 was now being spent on disease research. This was grossly inadequate in relation to New Zealand losses.

The country had 400 veterinary surgeons where it should have 1000—one to every 10.000 stock units. At present there was one veterinarian to 30,000 stock units. In the United States, Britain and Denmark the figures varied from one to 3000 or 5000. Professor Cunningham said the most urgent needs were an increased veterinary force, further education of farmers and much more investigational work. He divided animal diseases into four groups—exotic diseases, infectious diseases now in New Zealand, diseases associated with grazing management, and day-to-day stock ailments treated by veterinarians. He said the value of carcases condemned for tuberculosis in dairy and beef cattle and pigs amounted to £500,000 a year. The loss from brucellosis in

cattle was estimated at £750,000 a year, and the loss from hydatids £1.5 million a year. Lamb losses at lambing time amounted to 10 to 15 per cent.