New Zealand can boast of significant progress in tackling bovine TB, as the country eyes up the achievement of TB freedom in livestock by 2026.

TB freedom in possums by 2040 and in all disease hosts by 2055 are also aims of the country’s eradication programme.

The number of TB infected cattle or deer herds in the country dropped to 19 in 2023, having stood at 24 the year previous. New Zealand is targeting just 12 infected herds this year.

The number of reactors slaughtered annually for TB in New Zealand has been below the 1,000-head mark since the mid-2000s.

Reactor removals hit a peak of just over 15,600-head in the mid-1970s but the number of herd restrictions did increase in subsequent years when fewer cattle were being slaughtered.

TB eradication efforts have been underway since the 1970s, but these programmes were often poorly funded, fragmented and measures varied depending on region.

The eradication programme is funded and run by a government-industry partnership, administered through a not-for-profit private company set up in the 1990s.

New Zealand’s eradication plan follows a three-pronged approach:

  • testing and post-slaughter surveillance,
  • controlling wildlife,
  • movement restrictions for higher-risk herds.

    • The test-and-slaughter approach was employed early on in the country’s eradication efforts and movement restrictions were introduced for herds with repeated breakdowns and in high-risk areas.

    Unlike Ireland’s badger populations having protected status, New Zealand’s wild TB vector – the possum – is considered vermin and the country makes extensive use of the 1080 rodenticide to control possum populations.

    Ferrets, wild pigs and deer also act as TB vectors in New Zealand, but are not as significant as the possum. There are four areas in New Zealand, with different herd TB testing requirements in each.

    Herds in movement control areas must test all cattle annually. Cattle over three months of age moving out of the area must be within 60 days of a clear test result, unless heading directly for slaughter.

    Special testing areas require cattle over one-year to be tested annually, while herds located in special testing areas must test all cattle over two years of age every second year.

    The requirement for surveillance areas is loosened to only testing cattle over 24 months of age every five years.

    Most of the country is now covered by the five-year testing requirement.