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New Zealand law explained for everyone

Health Act 1956

Infectious and notifiable diseases

87A: Communicable diseases occurring in animals

You could also call this:

"Diseases in animals that must be reported to help keep people and animals healthy"

The Governor-General can decide which animal diseases are important to track. You need to know that veterinary surgeons must tell the medical officer of health if they think an animal has one of these diseases. They have to fill out a special form to report it.

If you are in charge of a laboratory and you find out an animal has one of these diseases, you must tell the medical officer of health. This is unless you know someone else has already reported it. You have to fill out the same special form to report it.

If you do not report the disease when you are supposed to, you can get in trouble with the law. The law applies to everyone, even the government. But if the government is trying to get rid of a disease, the law does not apply in that situation.

An order under this law is called secondary legislation, see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for more information about how it is published. This means it has to be published in a certain way so everyone can see it. You can find out more about how it works by looking at the law.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM307278.

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Part 3Infectious and notifiable diseases

87ACommunicable diseases occurring in animals

  1. The Governor-General may from time to time by Order in Council specify the communicable diseases to which this section shall apply.

  2. Every veterinary surgeon who has reason to believe that any animal professionally attended by him is suffering from a communicable disease to which this section applies shall forthwith give notice in the prescribed form to the medical officer of health.

  3. Every person in charge of a laboratory who has reason to believe, as a result of investigations made in that laboratory, that any animal is suffering or has suffered from a communicable disease to which this section applies shall, unless he is satisfied that notice has been given pursuant to subsection (2), forthwith give notice in the prescribed form to the medical officer of health for the health district in which that animal is or was so suffering.

  4. Repealed

  5. Every person commits an offence against this Act who fails to comply with the provisions of this section.

  6. This section shall bind the Crown.

  7. Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of this section, or in any Order in Council made hereunder nothing in those provisions shall apply in respect of any animal found to be suffering from a communicable disease in the course of any campaign for the eradication of that disease conducted by or at the instance of the responsible Ministry.

  8. An order under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

Notes
  • Section 87A: inserted, on , by section 6 of the Health Amendment Act 1964 (1964 No 34).
  • Section 87A(3A): repealed, on , by section 3(3) of the Health and Disability Services Amendment Act 1995 (1995 No 84).
  • Section 87A(6): inserted, on , by section 2 of the Health Amendment Act 1972 (1972 No 65).
  • Section 87A(6): amended, on , pursuant to section 6(1)(b) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (Restructuring) Act 1995 (1995 No 31).
  • Section 87A(7): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).