1080: The facts
  • Home
  • The Facts
    • 1080 fact sheet
    • Overview of 1080
    • The science of how 1080 works
    • Facts and figures >
      • The predators
      • The victims
    • Conservation
    • Bovine TB
    • 1080 bait and delivery
    • Alternatives to 1080
    • Regulation of 1080 >
      • Changes to 1080 regulation
  • 1080 at work
    • News
    • Case studies
    • From the field
    • Tiakina Ngā Manu
  • Research + Resources
    • Research
    • Reports
    • Resources >
      • FACTS: in pictures
      • NZ predator control map
  • Projects
    • 1080 and Water
    • 1080 and Fish
    • 1080 and Dogs
    • The facts of the missing rock wren
    • 1080 and Soil
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
    • Links
  • The Trust
    • About the Trust
    • News from the Trust
    • Our supporters
    • Contact Us

1080 and the battle against Bovine TB

Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is a serious, highly infectious disease found in cattle and deer herds, causing weight loss and death.

Bovine TB

Possums are the main source and carrier of bovine TB in New Zealand, and the main self-sustaining reservoir of the disease in the wild. In the early 1970s, it was discovered that possums were the source of chronic infection in cattle herds. Bovine tuberculosis infection transfers relatively easily from possums to cattle and deer due to the proximity of farmland to bush areas in New Zealand. Possums and ferrets are responsible for over 70% of new infection in cattle and deer herds, with infected possums known to live in around 40% of New Zealand [1]. 

A major threat to our economy

Dairy and meat exports are worth more than $14 billion annually to New Zealand [2]. Rising international animal health standards and growing concern about food safety are now major factors governing and threatening access to premium overseas markets.

As at  May 2014, New Zealand had 71 cattle and deer herds infected with bovine tuberculosis. This equates to around 0.10%. Many of our trading competitors, including Australia, are classed as being free of the disease [3]. 

As a nation with bovine TB infection, New Zealand is banned from exporting live cattle and deer to TB-free countries, including North America and Australia.
Picture
With pus on its fur, this is how TB could spread to a herd. Photo: Graham Nugent
If TBfree’s bovine TB eradication programme were to stop, the potential cost to New Zealand as a country has been estimated at $5 billion over 10 years [4].
possum with TB infected lymph nodes
Possum with bovine TB infective lymph nodes
Possum control factsheet
Download the possum control fact sheet
​

You may also be interested in:
  • The story of bovine TB's spread in New Zealand
  • How do forest buffers help control the spread of bovine TB
How are possums counted?
The WaxTag method
File Size: 2171 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Possum monitoring techniques
File Size: 432 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Farmers benefiting from pest control

Through a nationally coordinated programme comprising ground and aerial control methods and advances in TB-testing for cattle and deer, and stock movement control, TBfree, the agency charged with eradicating bovine TB from New Zealand, formerly the Animal Health Board (AHB), has in the past decade reduced the number of TB-infected herds by more than 90%. Aerial 1080 operations account for only 8% of TBfree’s control programme, which also uses traps and a range of pest control toxins. 

Click here to read about farmer's experiences with bovine TB infected herds

[1] TBfree New Zealand (2014). Bovine TB facts. Retrieved from www.tbfree.org.nz.
[2] TBfree New Zealand (2014). The economic cost of TB. Retrieved from www.tbfree.org.nz.
[3] Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australian Government (2012). Australia's Freedom from Bovine Tuberculosis. Retrieved from www.daff.govt.au.

supporting organisations

This website is operated by the Pest Control Education Trust
About the Trust | Contact the Trust