It started with an interview of Massey University’s Dr Mike Joy.
He started by telling us “New Zealanders don’t realise that we have the highest rates in the OECD or in the developed world of these gastro diseases that come from animals”.
So it’s farmers at fault but I wouldn’t expect Joy to blame anyone else.
The Public Health Surveillance Report covering the period January to March this year is extremely helpful.
For a start, there were fewer notifiable disease cases in 2015 than there were in 2014 though some including crypto, Legionnaires disease and VTEC did increase.
Both crypto and VTEC can be spread by contaminated food, touching contaminated surfaces or having contact with an infected person. Legionnaires is spread by water droplets through cooling systems.
In addition, Massey’s Dr Russell Death claimed NZ did have a high gastro intestinal disease rate of 200 people infected for each 100,000 people.
I accept that figure but it doesn’t mention animals. Did Joy class people as animals?
The Ministry of Health publishes figures on disease outbreaks.
In 2014, the last year figures have been collated, there were 863 outbreaks infecting 14,828 people.
The main cause was the norovirus and the main location was long-term care facilities.
Further, that year, 87.6% of infections were the result of person-to-person transmission and not animals unless, of course, you classify humans as animals.
You’re not going to try to fix it. You feel better jumping about in ridiculous indignation.
In 2013 there were 652 incidents affecting 7137 people and the same pattern emerged except that giardia was second to norovirus. Giardia was introduced not by farmers but tourists.
In 2012 there were 716 outbreaks affecting 10,491 cases with the highest number affected in Auckland. As we know, the Queen City does not have animals wandering around the streets infecting people.
In that year, the most common outbreak settings were long-term care, child care, hospitals, schools and camps. Animals and farms weren’t mentioned.
The main mode of transmission was person-to-person.
Joy went on to say how New York had cleaned up its water act by “growing nuts and planted trees”.
Around Hastings you have lifestyle blocks and horticulture – nuts and trees.
Joy then comes out with his king hit again unchallenged. “It’s an expectation the world has to face that animals have to come out of agriculture” and we are expected to take the interview seriously.
His final statement was about intensive dairying which doesn’t happen in Hawke’s Bay so, again, don’t blame farmers.
Mind you, Joy wasn’t the only one guilty of blaming farmers with Dame Anne Salmond launching into the circus claiming that “according to the Ministry of Health tens of thousands across the country fall ill from waterborne diseases each year”.
Not according to the figures the ministry gave me and she didn’t mention giardia.
She goes on to criticise farming and dairy which I don’t accept.
The other fact that irritates the tripe out of me is that no one commended farmers for the billion dollars they have spent cleaning up the environment and our waterways.
Everyone has been so busy blaming farmers that the Hasting District Council got away with its ridiculous decision not to chlorinate the water supply.
Masterton water is chlorinated, as is ours on the farm.
Then in a late charge to win the stupidity stakes you have the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council threatening legal action against the Hastings District Council.
So, you’re going to sue some of your ratepayers using money from all of the ratepayers.
You’re not going to try to fix it. You feel better jumping about in ridiculous indignation.
It would seem the bores had a three-year history of contamination and nothing was done.
Then, in a ridiculous pass the parcel game, we’re told that although the regional council is responsible for managing freshwater resources it is claiming under the Health Act the district council is the water supplier and responsible for identifying risks.
At least they’re not blaming farmers.
We then had the Greens claiming the proposed Ruataniwha Dam “will make the Tukituki River even more susceptible to pollution”.
Two points, according to the highly credible Land and Water Aotearoa website there’s no current E. coli contamination in the Tukituki River and I would argue the dam would lessen any bad effects on the aquifer but don’t let facts get in the way.
So there’s no obvious cause and why it is taking so long to identify?
I believe a logical reason was the massive drought that went for months followed by the recent heavy flooding.
No one seems to be acknowledging that – it’s easier just to blame farmers.
