They, along with Ospri’s spin doctors, ignore the fact herd movement is the major vector of new TB infection in cattle and deer herds.
Since August 3 2009 I have collated information supplied by the Animal Health Board, Ospri, TB-Free and other relevant agencies. The total number of herds infected by herd movement now stands at 43. The total number of herds infected with TB by possums is zero but ferrets have been blamed as the vector for three Southland herd infections.
The possum has been blamed at times but under further questioning of the agency making the claim those claims have been dropped and usually replaced by herd movement as the vector.
Similarly, reported clusters, such as the recently reported nine herds, have occurred in Taranaki in August 2009, Mid Canterbury, 2011, Taranaki, May 2013, Rangitata, October 2013, Northland, February 2014, Waikato, April 2014, Southland, July 2014. There are other single herds where herd movement caused new infections.
The failure of the always deeply flawed Nait scheme, controlled by the Ministry for Primary Industries and Ospri, to keep track of herd movements means TB will forever be a problem in New Zealand.
Ultimately, it also contributed to the rapid spread of Mycoplasma bovis in dairy herds.
In July 2016 the Advertising Standards Authority decided Ospri’s advertised claim possums were responsible for half of new TB infections in cattle and deer herds was not supported by the evidence. The authority ruled the Ospri advert breached the industry code of ethics requiring truthful presentation and social responsibility.
Will Ospri give us verifiable, factual evidence relating to the real, not speculative, cause behind this new cluster of TB infections? I doubt it.
Ron Eddy
Nelson
