The first case of the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis has been confirmed in Taranaki.
Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
The Ministry of Primary Industries has served a restricted-place notice on a farm where tests showed that animals were at risk of spreading the disease.
MPI's M bovis director Geoff Gwyn said that for privacy reasons he can't go into the specifics of the property involved but he has confirmed some animals will be culled.
Mr Gwyn said any decision to cull animals is not taken lightly and the farmer is being offered support.
More than 75 farms have tested positive for the disease since it was first detected in New Zealand in 2017, resulting in the culling of more than 44,000 cows.
In May the government announced it would pledge more than $600 million to a 10-year Mycoplasma bovis eradication programme.
The dairy sector will also pay an estimated $272m towards the programme.