Presentation 6: Surveillance and testing

Dr Victoria Barrell, MPI Veterinarian • We are taking a multi-layer approach to testing to find out how wide spread Mycoplasma bovis is. • To give a simple overview, we are essentially carrying out testing in the following categories • Infected farms - we first want to establish how far the disease has spread. • Bordering farms –to see if the disease has spread to neighbouring farms. • Stock movements traces – like any farming business, stock are bought and sold frequently. We are identifying where stock may have gone to and come from so we can test those animals also. • District wide - We have tested bulk milk samples from the two districts surrounding the initial infection in Waimate and Waitaki. • National wide testing – this is multi-layered. Firstly, any farmer who has contacted their vet about possible Mycoplasma bovis systems in their herds are tested. Any mastitis milk samples that are sent to regional laboratories are being tested and we are surveying vets to ask them to ID farms with possible symptoms so we can bulk milk test 10 farms per region. A nationwide survey of farms has been done. • We have said the process takes up to 7 days from taking the sample on-farm, to getting a result. However given the scale of the testing we need to carry out – we are prioritising the samples in terms of the risk. • Infected farms are our priority, as well as properties surrounding the farms. • We have many people in the field who are collecting samples, and we thank farmers and vets and Assure Quality for their work. • Once the samples reach Wellington, we then prioritise, meaning your sample may stored based on our risk assessment. • Given Mycoplasma bovis is an unwanted organism in NZ – the testing CAN NOT be carried out in just any lab. • It has to be done with a high level of security, after all, we don’t want to spread the disease around the country through the testing process. • We do it in our PC3 lab in Wellington – which has a high level of containment and security. • The lab is coping well with the work load at the moment, and we are looking at ways we can further increase our capacity, without complicating or compromising the work that’s currently underway. • This is just more validation of our new biocontainment facility which is being built as we speak in Wallaceville. More info: www.mpi.govt.nz/protection-and-response/responding/alerts/mycoplasma-bovis/