Although livestock in New Zealand are not infected with the TSE agents, any country that wants to trade as TSE-free must undertake an internationally acceptable on-going TSE surveillance and monitoring programme, that has been designed along the guidelines provided by the World Organisation for Animal Health (the OIE).

These incentive arrangements assist New Zealand to meet these guidelines, and ensure the continued market access that is vital to New Zealand's economy.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) pays the following transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) investigation incentives directly to farmers.

• Cattle $133 plus GST
• Deer  $100 plus GST
• Sheep $50 plus GST

Contact us if you think you have animals that fit the criteria listed below

---

Sampling Criteria

Age
• Cattle aged 30 months up to 9 years
• Deer, sheep and goats 2 years and older

Clinical presentation
• Cattle which might be considered as having a metabolic disorder which fails to respond to treatment.
• Downer cattle which have no obvious injury.
• Dairy cattle which have previously behaved reasonably in the milking shed, but which are now at the point of being culled for behavioural reasons.
• Cattle showing any signs which might be considered to be of neurological origin and which do not respond to treatment.
• Cattle showing abnormalities of gait or stance which are not obviously associated with musculo-skeletal pathology.
• Progressive non-responsive nervous disease cases in adult sheep, goats, and deer.
• Progressive non-responsive cases of illthrift in deer.
• Acute or peracute pneumonia, or aspiration pneumonia in adult deer.

In each case, where no other cause of the disease can be definitely diagnosed at the time of necropsy.

NB: 'Nervous behaviour' in cattle is defined as: persistent ear-twitching, strange gait, aggressiveness, nervousness, cup-kicking, or behavioural change.