Cattle from Canty farms isolated after tests

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 6

Cattle from Canty farms isolated after tests

REBECCA MacFIE

in Rangiora i 1

Cattle from five North Canterbury farms have been isolated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries after some stock returned positive results; to tuberculosis tests.

All infected animals have been slaughtered, but any herd known to have been in contact with tuberculosis is automatically put on movement control to prevent the disease spreading out of the area. The Ministry last year identified the Lowry Peaks area between the Hurunui and Waiau Rivers as endemic after finding increasing evidence of tuberculosis. ' Two livestock officers are working through all 55 farms in the area, testing all cattle. Normally testing is done only every three years and is staggered through different areas. The supervising live-

population under control in the affected areas. Mr Goldschmidt | said there was still some doubt about whether opossums were spreading tuberculosis, but the site of the lesions around the head and lungs of affected j cattle indicated they were the source of the problem. A Pest Destruction Board supervisor, Mr lan Lucas, said a 5000 hectare block had been pbisened last September with a 95 per cent kill, but |it had i not extended far enough from the tuberculosisinfected areas to be effective. He expected I that a much bigger operation would be carried this winter, under contract from the Ministry.

stock officer, Mr Michael j Goldschmidt, said he ex- i pected testing around < Lowry Peaks to be com- i pleted by the end of April, i About half the herds have < been tested, and it is 1 possible more farms will ; need to be isolated as 1 they come under scrutiny. i Four of the five farms < already on movement control are neighbouring ] properties. ! 1 Mr Goldschmidt said 1 that compared with other 1 infected parts of New j Zealand, the North Can- i terbury problem was 1 small, but was moving i "fairly quickly.” ! I The Ministry has in- i volved the Amuri Pest 1 Destruction Board to try ’ and bring the opossum 1

: Mr Lucas said the opossums would need to be virtually eliminated before the tuberculosis risk was really brought undercontrol because often only a very I small percentage of the population were tuberculosis carriers. Mr Goldschmidt said the co-operation received from farmers had been “absolutely superb.” i “We believe if we can act swiftly we can bring the whole thing under control.” The chairman of the Amuri branch of Federated Fanners, Mr Bruce Gardiner, said fanners were not alarmed by the testing programme, but it was "obviously a nuisance to them.”