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New Zealand animal health companies have been pioneers in the development of veterinary medicines for farm animals. Research with a relatively few animals has brought huge benefits for all animals.
For example, until NZ manufacturers developed vaccines for diseases like tetanus, pulpy kidney and blood poisoning in the 1940s, many thousands of sheep and cattle used to die from these painful infections every year.
In the 1970s, NZ companies developed vaccines for leptospirosis - a disease of farm animals which causes miscarriages in cows and pigs and which can cause blindness, headaches and extreme muscle pain in humans. By vaccinating dairy cattle, the disease cycle can be broken. As a result leptospirosis is no longer one of our worst occupational diseases.
Right now, the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries and our animal health companies are working on vaccines to prevent two major parasites from infecting sheep. These are sheep measles (spread by dogs) and sarcocysts (spread by cats).