More testing was being done on the second property, which was under precautionary restrictions because of its association with the new infected farm.
Another farm in the area had also been put under movement restrictions today while further testing was done to see if it was infected.
Incident controller David Yard said all three farms were in the same area and a couple of them were next to van Leeuwen Dairy Group properties.
“All these farms are under restricted place notices, controlling the movement of animals and other risk goods on and off the farms.
“We still have a lot of work to do ascertaining the source of infection at the confirmed infected property and building a picture of animal movements between all three farms and possible other farms,” Yard said.
“There is a lot of thorough information on MPI’s website about keeping equipment clean, buffer fencing property boundaries and about safely moving animals between properties.”
All three farms were identified through the ministry’s comprehensive, science-based surveillance and tracing programme, which had now tested more than 40,000 samples of milk, blood and swabs.
“Our programme has been developed by MPI’s skilled scientists and veterinarians along with advice from Massey University’s EpiCentre – the largest veterinary epidemiology training and research centre in Australasia.
“The surveillance is the most appropriate for the situation we are dealing with and we’re leaving no stone unturned in our bid to understand where this disease is present and manage it.”
Yard said he wanted to assure farmers that if Mycoplasma bovis was present, it would be found.
MPI’s experienced response team was now planning for how the new infected place would be managed and continuing testing of samples from the two other properties.
“This is a very stressful time for everyone involved and I’d like assure farmers that MPI is working hard on their behalf to locate and contain this disease,” he said.
Farmers concerned about someone doing it tough could call the Mycoplasma bovis Farmer Support Line 027 444 9380 or their local Rural Support Trust on 0800 787 254.
