If Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) infection is confirmed
If M. bovis is confirmed on your farm you’ll need to follow set steps, including culling animals and disinfecting your property.
If M. bovis is confirmed on your farm — through on-farm testing — you’ll receive a Restricted Place (RP) Notice, replacing the previous Notice of Direction.
This means legal controls will be applied to your property. For example:
- cattle cannot be moved in or out of the RP Notice area without a permit
- all cattle within the RP Notice area will need to be culled (depopulated)
- no at-risk goods/equipment or cattle can be moved out of the RP area, except for cattle being transported to slaughter as arranged by the M. bovis programme.
Your OSPRI case manager will work with you on a plan to clear the farm of infection. They’ll help plan the steps below.
- 1 Cull all your cattle, according to the plan we agree with you (as set out in section 122 Depopulation Notice under the Biosecurity Act 1993).
- 2 Clean and disinfect your property.
- 3 Keep identified high-risk areas, such as dairy sheds, calf sheds and cow barns, free of cattle for 60 days (known as stand-down).
- 4 Create a recovery plan for repopulation (rebuilding your herd).