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Michigan Bovine TB Conference planned

A veterinarian says interstate movement of cattle with traces of bovine tuberculosis from Texas to Michigan has caused an influx of herd testing.

Michigan Department of Agriculture’s Assistant State Veterinarian Dr. Rick Smith tells Brownfield Michigan has been battling bovine TB since the late 90s when it was confirmed in a free-ranging deer population, but recent outbreaks in Texas and California are making their way to Michigan.  “We get a lot of traces, so these would be animals that came out of these herds over the last five years.”  He says, “USDA traces these to where ever they went to and then we have to go in and try to find these animals and then do TB testing in those herds.”  He says thousands of animals have been tested in the last year.

Smith says the department and Ohio State University are partnering for their third bovine TB conference in Northeast Michigan.  The conference is geared toward farmers and will cover TB testing of urine, milk and cow breath as well as biosecurity measures between wildlife and cattle.  “We had the meeting two years ago and we talked a lot about the development of a vaccine for immunizing deer against tuberculosis, so we’re going to have a follow-up session on that.”

The Michigan Bovine TB Conference is set for March 12th at the Hillman Community Center in Hillman, Michigan.

Bovine TB an infectious bacterial disease affecting cattle and white-tailed deer.

AUDIO: Interview with Dr. Rick Smith