Northland clear of Mycoplasma bovis cattle disease 18 Feb, 2021 02:20 AM 5 minutes to read Northern Advocate (Whangarei) The highly infectious cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis has been cleared from Northland. The affected properties can now get back to farming as normal, according to Ministry for Primary Industry's M.bovis programme director Stuart Anderson. Mycoplasma bovis is a bacterium that can cause a range of serious conditions in cattle – including mastitis that doesn't respond to treatment, pneumonia, arthritis, and late-term abortions. It has no cell wall so is resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics. It does not infect humans and presents no food safety risk. However, it has a serious effect on animal health.