The Hawke's Bay region has been declared free of bovine tuberculosis.
The Animal Health Board says there are now no tuberculosis-infected cattle or deer herds in the region, after testing cleared the last infected herd, at Timahanga Station off the Napier-Taihape Road.
The Hawke's Bay region had been TB-free until 1989. Five years later, 21 herds were on movement control restrictions because of the disease.
Regional council chair Fenton Wilson, who is also an Animal Health Board representative, says the disease-free declaration is a brilliant outcome for farmers.
But he says they need to stay vigilant and keep up herd testing and pest control operations, to prevent possums from reinfecting livestock.
