About 1,500 at risk cattle will be treated in New Caledonia in a bid to contain an outbreak of tick fever which has forced the authorities to destroy about 10 animals.
The government imposed restrictions on 21 farms which had received the 43 infected bulls imported from Australia last November.
The Australian Quarantine Inspection Service had approved the export although under New Caledonian rules the bulls should have been submitted to a chemical drenching treatment.
Australia has sent veterinarians to New Caledonia to help treat the stock.
The New Caledonian president, Harold Martin, has welcomed the assistance and says the least traumatic method has been chosen to solve the problem.
