1080 and the battle against Bovine TB
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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.
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Possum with bovine TB infective lymph nodes
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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
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.
[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.
