First TB in deer for 14 years confirmed

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

Authorities have moved to reassure Bay of Plenty farmers after confirmation that deer near Tauranga were infected with bovine tuberculosis.

It is 14 years since the last outbreak in the region, at Te Puna, and also involving deer.

The latest infection was found in four out of a herd of 120 deer from an Omanawa Rd farm in the lower Kaimai ranges, about 25km from Tauranga.

Routine tests picked up TB when the herd was sent to the slaughterhouse.

The rest of the animals were clear. "It is nothing like foot and mouth in England. We do not have any major concerns at all," AgriQuality veterinarian Keith Paterson said yesterday.

However, cattle and deer near the Omanawa farm were being tested for TB as a safeguard.

A planned possum control operation affecting 80 rural properties over 1280ha in the lower Kaimais was "purely a precautionary measure", he said.

The district has a mix of lifestyle blocks, orchards, conservation and forestry holdings, and sheep, dairy and deer farms.

The diseased deer were bought several months ago from a Taupo source which had been TB-free for 10 years.

Four or five animals in the Taupo herd were also found to be infected and were killed.

Wildlife was the likely source of contamination and a rigorous control programme had been carried out on possums and ferrets in the area, Mr Paterson said.

He did not believe there was any evidence bovine TB had spread beyond the one 18ha Omanawa property in the Western Bay of Plenty.

Despite the setback, the region officially retained its bovine TB-free status, said Environment BOP pest control and vector manager, David Moore.

There was "absolutely no evidence at all" so far of any cross-infection from the four diseased deer.

Mr Moore said the regional council would advertise for tenders next week for an intensive possum control operation, which would start in late January or early February.

Eradication could involve poisoning, shooting and trapping.



Nick Hancox, a spokesman for the Animal Health Board which is responsible for bovine TB control in New Zealand, said measures were a routine safeguard whenever there was confirmation of bovine TB.