Operational pest management

When a herd is diagnosed with TB, an investigation is undertaken to uncover the cause of the infection.

Established on July 1, OSPRI manages the TBfree New Zealand and NAIT programmes.

Its mission is to be the organisation of choice delivering creative operational solutions for New Zealand's primary industries.

However, farmers can rest assured that the bovine tuberculosis (TB) control programme will remain a major focus of OSPRI, and eradicating the disease from wild animals and farmed cattle and deer herds is still firmly in its sights.

OSPRI chief executive William McCook said the delivery and improvement of New Zealand's already world-leading TB control and NAIT programmes will continue.

"We will utilise the expertise within the two programmes, which is already showing value to the agriculture sector in several areas," said Mr McCook.

When a herd is diagnosed with TB, an investigation is undertaken to uncover the cause of the infection.

"This is an area where the TBfree New Zealand and NAIT programmes complement each other," said Mr McCook.

As the data held by NAIT continues to grow, TBfree New Zealand will be able to effectively trace animal movements back to the initial infected herd.

"While OSPRI continues to deliver the TBfree New Zealand and NAIT programmes, it also has a wider remit, opening up countless opportunities to enhance New Zealand's primary industries through innovation, research and development," said Mr McCook.

Potential areas of opportunity include risk management, the extension of NAIT and organisational services to other species, as well as the design and delivery of partnership programmes between government and industry.