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Kōrero: Taranaki places

Facial eczema monitoring

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Facial eczema monitoring

First-time visitors to Taranaki are sometimes a little alarmed by the roadside facial eczema signs on the northern and southern approaches to the region. Facial eczema is a disease of grazing animals caused by toxins produced by a microscopic fungus, Pithomyces chartarum, which becomes epidemic in warm, damp conditions in late summer and early autumn. It is not harmful to humans.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Private collection

by Ron Lambert

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Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Ron Lambert, Taranaki places – Pātea, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/25924/facial-eczema-monitoring (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Ron Lambert, i tāngia i te 23 February 2010, updated 1 September 2016.