More than 22,000 cattle are to be killed in an attempt to contain the disease. Photo / File
A government investigation into the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis has identified imported frozen semen and embryos as an infection risk "knowledge gap" needing research funding.
Technical reports on the investigation of the recent disease incursion, dumped last night by an under-pressure Ministry for Primary Industries more than a week ahead
of scheduled release, said a review by international experts on New Zealand's response to the first outbreak of the cattle disease suggested frozen semen in particular needed research as a conveyor of Mbovis.
More than 22,000 cattle are to be killed before the new dairy season starts in June in an MPI initiative to try to eradicate the disease.
MBovis affects beef and dairy cattle and was first identified on Oamaru dairy farms in the South Island last year. The disease is well-established in the herds of New Zealand's trading partners, and other countries, which try to manage it.
New Zealand is the first country in the world to try to contain the disease, which MPI is confident is not yet well-established here, by large scale culling of cattle on 28 infected properties — all but one in the South Island.
