New Zealand orders mass cattle cull to eradicate disease

New Zealand today ordered the culling of 126,000 cattle in an attempt to eradicate the painful Mycoplasma bovis disease, which causes udder infections, pneumonia and arthritis.

The decision was taken to "protect the base of our economy -- the farming sector," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

"This is a tough call -- no one ever wants to see mass culls. But the alternative is the spread of the disease across our national herd." Mycoplasma bovis does not affect milk and meat for human consumption, and most governments are content to control outbreaks.

However, Ardern said New Zealand -- which relies heavily on livestock farming for its export earnings -- would aim to eradicate the disease completely.

"We do believe we are taking it on at a point that it is possible to eradicate and more than 99 percent of farms don't have it and we want to protect them from having it."