31 Jul 2017

Second case of cattle disease found in South Canterbury

8:22 pm on 31 July 2017

A second case of the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis has been found in South Canterbury.

Cows on the farm infected with mycoplasma bovis.

Cows on the farm infected with mycoplasma bovis. Photo: RNZ / Alexa Cook

The farm, and the property where the first case was confirmed last week, are part of the 16 farm Van Leeuwen Dairy Group.

In the first case, 25 infected cows had to be put down.

The Ministry for Primary Industries said the detection was not unexpected, given close connections between the two farms.

It was continuing testing for the disease on all farms in the company and neighbouring farms.

Mycoplasma bovis can cause lameness, pneumonia, mastitis and death in cows.

The disease is infectious to cattle, but not harmful to humans.

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