May 27, 2004 - After a careful review of all public comments and testimony, Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Dan Wyant today announced the establishment of two new disease management zones for bovine tuberculosis (TB), effective June 1, 2004.

The two zones - Modified Accredited and Modified Accredited Advanced - each carries a set of requirements for animal movement, identification and testing. The zoning order revises one that established zones effective March 10, 2002, and aligns the state with federal requirements outlined under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) split state status designation, granted April 19, 2004.

"This zoning order provides consistency between the state and federal terminology, designations and requirements for bovine TB eradication efforts and is a critical component of our recently-obtained split state status designation," Wyant said. "This is an important step toward eradicating bovine TB from Michigan."

The Modified Accredited Zone includes Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Cheboygan, Charlevoix, Crawford, Emmet, Montmorency, Oscoda, Otsego and Presque Isle counties; and portions of Ogemaw and Iosco counties that are north of the southernmost boundaries of the Huron National Forest and Au Sable State Forest. The Modified Accredited Advanced Zone encompasses the remaining portions of the state, including the entire Upper Peninsula.

The new zoning designations will target testing, identification and surveillance activities in the Modified Accredited Zone in northern Lower Michigan, while removing similar requirements and increasing the marketing opportunities for the Modified Accredited Advanced Zone.

"By focusing efforts in the area of the state where bovine TB has been identified, both time and dollars will be more effectively spent to eradicate this disease," Wyant added. "In addition to the zone designations, our plan focuses available resources to support supplying animal identification, the movement permit system and ensuring that annual surveillance testing is completed."

The department will continue to work cooperatively with producers, associations, extension agents and state and federal partners to reduce the effects of bovine TB in Michigan and eradicate it from the state. After appropriate testing occurs, MDA has committed to working with USDA to look at ways of reducing the size of the affected areas. The ultimate goal is to obtain bovine TB-free designation for the entire state of Michigan.

Some key points of the new zones are:

• Three counties have been added to the Modified Accredited Zone (previously the Infected and Surveillance Zones). They are Antrim, Emmet and Charlevoix.
  
  
• There will be MDA or USDA inspectors at the Mackinac Bridge and the livestock market in Gaylord to monitor the sale and movement of cattle from the Modified Accredited Zone.
  
  
• Animals moving within or out of the Modified Accredited Zone must have a 60-day individual animal test if a whole herd test has not been done within the previous 60 days. (previously individual animal tests were not needed if a whole herd test had been done within six months of movement.)
  
  
• Adult animals moving from the Modified Accredited Advanced Zone must have a 60-day individual animal test if a whole herd test has not been done within the previous six months.

MDA will host several public meetings over the summer to aid in the transition to the new zone requirements, and help producers meet the requirements for movement permits, electronic identification and testing.

Michigan’s Bovine TB Eradication Project is a multi-agency team of experts from the Michigan Departments of Agriculture, Community Health, and Natural Resources; Michigan State University; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Since the TB eradication effort began, all of the state’s 1 million livestock animals have been tested for the disease, with no TB found outside an area in the northern Lower Peninsula. A bull in Barry County previously identified as suspect for TB has been determined to not be positive for the disease by USDA due to the results of intensive testing and additional laboratory analysis. The DNR has tested nearly 123,400 wild white-tailed deer, with 481 testing positive for bovine TB. Four elk and 42 carnivores/omnivores have also tested positive. Strategies adopted by the DNR to reduce bovine TB in the wild white-tailed deer have reduced the prevalence rate of the disease from the high in 1997 of 4.7 percent to 1.7 percent in 2004.

For more information about the new zone designations or Michigan’s bovine TB eradication efforts, please contact the MDA Animal Industry Division Lansing Office at 517-373-1077 or the Atlanta Office toll-free at 888-565-8626. Information is also available online at www.michigan.gov/bovinetb or at www.michigan.gov/mda. Movement permits can be obtained from the Atlanta office or online at www.nationalfair.com.

• Split State Zone Map
  
  
• Director Wyant's Directive to Establish Zones for Bovine Tuberculosis