Wednesday, 11 July 2018 10:55

Mycoplasma bovis a risk to other stock

Written by 
There have been reports of M. bovis in pigs. There have been reports of M. bovis in pigs.

Mycoplasma bovis can spread from cattle to other farm animals, says an expert. 

Retired Lincoln University professor Keith Woodford told the Federated Farmers dairy conference in Wellington that M. bovis isn't just a risk for New Zealand cattle.

He says in a case documented in Austria M. bovis jumped from a cattle herd into pigs and in the following years found its way into a dairy herd grazing in an alpine region.

A lesson learned from the M. bovis outbreak was NZ’s lack of awareness: MPI had no programme in place to deal with it.

Woodford says the MPI executive in charge of the response team “had to go and google it to see what M. bovis was all about”.

“Everyone has been caught out including the veterinary profession.”

More like this

M. bovis plan on track

New Zealand's world-first Mycoplasma bovis eradication programme is making great strides but this isn't the time for complacency, says Ospri.

Featured

Southland Farmers Face Wet Weather Toll, Support Available

Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.

How Wearable Tech Powers This 1,850-Cow Dairy Farm

For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.

New Dairy Welfare Code Released, Takes Effect 2027

The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter