At the end of June there were no infected cattle herds in Southland, and last Wednesday the number of infected cattle herds in Otago was officially zero, although there were two infected deer herds. The national infected herds figure was 41.
There were 12 infected herds across the southern provinces at the end of June last year, and the national total was 72.
The chairmen of the regions' Tbfree committees say this year's results are good news, although they caution some positive results might be recorded over the next few months to send the tallies upwards again.
Otago Tbfree committee chairman Ross Wilson said Otago's figures were ''impressive''.
''At long last, we've finally got a zero [for cattle], for the first time in decades. It is good to know we are at the right end of the figures ... when you consider, at the peak of the Tb problem in 1998, there were 306 infected herds in Otago and 1700 nationally.''
Over the years, in places like the Catlins, herds were ''more likely to be Tb positive than not'', he said.
''It's great when you think Owaka hasn't had a positive Tb test in over two years.''
In New Zealand, bovine Tb is spread mainly by possums. Since bovine Tb hit high levels in the 1990s, a huge effort has been put into controlling the disease and about $1.2billion has been spent over the past 15 years.
Herd testing and possum control in high risk areas is carried out by Ospri New Zealand, a not for profit limited company established in 2013 after the merger of the Animal Health Board and the National Animal Identification and Tracing (Nait) programme.
Mr Wilson, of Omakau, who described himself as a ''pre tired'' deer farmer, said he first became aware of Tb in 1990 when he was farming near Outram and one of his cattle tested positive.
''Every time you had your animals tested it was fingers crossed.''
Southland committee chairman Mike O'Brien said Southland's zero result had been matched only once before _ ''for about six months, four or five years ago''.
However, both he and Mr Wilson said the zero result for farmed animals did not mean the provinces were Tb free, as it still existed in possums and other wildlife in some areas.
Mr O'Brien, who farms beef and sheep at Blackmount, Western Southland, said the respiratory disease was spread when ''inquisitive cows'' sniffed sick possums lying on the ground and the possums hissed at them, spraying nasal discharge.
It was possible for humans to contract Tb from close contact with infected animals, although that was rare in New Zealand, he said.
In Southland, the target for the 2014 15 year had been to eradicate Tb from 55,000ha, Mr O'Brien said. That target had been ''well and truly broken'' and Tb had been eradicated from 85,650ha.
This year, Ospri has removed 114,000ha of Southland now considered to be low risk for Tb from the possum control and regular herd testing programme, although ''surveillance testing'' will still be carried out once every three years.
Mr O'Brien said there was ''no 100% guarantee'' there were no infected possums in those areas, but the committee and Ospri believed Tb had been eradicated from those areas.
However, the decision meant possum numbers would increase, he said.
''Farmers won't like that. But they can hook into Environment Southland funding for possum control or pay for it themselves.''