- Hon Andrew Hoggard
New Zealand has achieved a major milestone in eradicating the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis, with no sign of the disease detected after two spring calving seasons, says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard.
"Thanks to the hard work of farmers, after three autumn and two spring calving seasons with no infections, we're entering a new phase called 'confidence of absence'. This phase involves a couple more years of background surveillance until we have a very high level of confidence that the disease is eradicated."
"This progress is excellent news for farmers. As confidence grows that the disease has been cleared from the national herd, the costs of the eradication programme and the levies paid by farmers will continue to decrease.
Mr Hoggard reflected on the initial discovery of the disease in 2017, and the collective effort required to combat it: "We had to pull together-farmers, officials, and the community-to beat it."
In 2018, the Ministry for Primary Industries, DairyNZ, and Beef + Lamb New Zealand committed to a 10-year, $870 million programme to eradicate M. bovis, protecting both the sector and the economy. Allowing the disease to become endemic would have cost $1.3 billion in lost production in the first ten years alone.
The last known transmission of M. bovis in cattle was in September 2023, and the programme remains on track to achieve eradication by June 2028. New Zealand's animal disease eradication agency, OSPRI, is now gathering data to confirm the disease has been eliminated from the national herd, a process expected to take another two years.
"I want to thank farmers for their perseverance, noting that their efforts are helping to protect New Zealand's dairy and beef industries for the long term."
"For those farmers that were caught up in this it has been truly heart rending.
They paid a high price to protect the rest of us."
He also acknowledged the contributions of community leaders, scientists, lab technicians, industry leaders, and suppliers, emphasizing that this achievement is a collective success.
