Kiwi biotechnology company Pictor will do the research to make it easier to detect the disease through enhancement of the antibody Elisa detection method,
Strategic Science Advisory Group head and Primary Industries Ministry chief science adviser John Roche said while the testing regime is good now but improvements will be needed in future.
“In 12-18 months as the prevalence of the disease in the cattle population gets lower and lower the ability to detect it will get harder and harder.”
The development of a more sensitive test has the potential to optimise future testing, Roche said.
“To provide confidence New Zealand is free of M bovis background surveillance will continue for some years after the current delimiting stage of the eradication programme.
Science and better diagnostics will be critical in accelerating the eradication and preventing another incursion, Roche said.
The work is expected to take 14 months and is the first of several diagnostic projects planned.
The Pictor platform enables testing for a chosen panel of diseases and-or multiple markers of a single disease from one small sample.
Meanwhile, the programme has launched a survey to find out the attitudes and behaviours of lifestyle block owners.
The survey, to be done by Landcare Research will assess lifestyle block owners’ on-farm biosecurity practices.
There is little data on biosecurity on the nation’s 175,000 lifestyle blocks.
“Like commercial farmers, lifestyle block owners have an important role to play in accelerating the eradication and supporting ongoing absence of the cattle disease from NZ,” Roche said.
“These survey results will help us understand how we can best engage this group in the M bovis eradication effort.”
The survey will include questions about animal ownership and awareness of and compliance with legal obligations under the Nait and Biosecurity Acts.
Results are expected in September.
