WELLINGTON, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has placed two additional properties under movement controls following suspicious test results for the bacterial cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis.
"The discovery of the new potentially positive properties has not changed our position on this. We do not believe there is a significant risk of disease spread across fences," MPI's Director of Response Geoff Gwyn said on Wednesday.
The properties in the Waimate district in the South Island are under control, known as a Restricted Place Notice, as a precaution only. The notice restricts the movement of animals and other risk goods on and off the farms until testing is completed, said a MPI statement.
Mycoplasma bovis is spread through close and prolonged contact between animals and through the direct movement of stock.
Gwyn said that the two farms are suspect positives at this stage and further confirmatory tests are required, and results are expected later in the week.
The properties were identified through MPI's very comprehensive surveillance program which has now tested more than 40,000 samples of milk, blood and swabs, Gwyn said.
"This is exactly why we are doing this testing work -- to know where the disease is in order to contain and remove it," he said.
"We do not believe the new suspect properties represent a game changer. These farms are in the same geographical area to all known infected properties and neighbor Van Leeuwen Dairy Group farms," he added.
Investigators are still building a picture of how animals on the farms could have been infected, Gwyn said.
