No bovine TB found in cattle tested in 10-mile circle areas around 2010 TB positive deer

December 20 , 2011

LANSING - The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) today announced the release of two Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) Potential High Risk Area (PHRA) designations around a Cheboygan County, and an Alcona County TB positive deer  - both taken during the 2010 hunting season.  A total of 741 head of cattle on 39 farms were tested after the PHRAs were designated this past March.

"Bovine TB is a disease transmitted occasionally between deer and cattle.  It is routine practice for MDARD to designate a potential high-risk area when a white-tailed deer is determined to be bovine TB positive outside the endemic area," said MDARD's State Veterinarian Dr. Steven Halstead.  "Under the potential high risk area designation, MDARD is required to conduct surveillance testing on all cattle within a ten mile radius of the TB positive deer."

All cattle and bison herds in the Potential High-Risk Area in Cheboygan County's, Forest Township, received a whole herd bovine tuberculosis test.  This testing revealed no evidence of bovine tuberculosis.  The testing included all cattle on farms in the following townships:

• Those portions of Aloha, Ellis, Forest, Koehler, Nunda, Walker, and Waverly townships (Cheboygan County), and Allis, Case, and North Allis townships (Presque Isle County) that fall within a ten-mile radius around the Cheboygan County TB positive deer.

Additionally, the farms that fell within a ten-mile radius around the Alcona County deer, taken in Curtis Township are effectively released from the PHRA designation, as no evidence of bovine TB was found:

• Those portions of Oscoda, Plainfield, and Wilbur townships (in Iosco County) and Goodar Township (in Ogemaw County).

Since the bovine TB eradication effort began in 1995, the state's one million cattle have been tested for the disease (some of them several times over).  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently granted TB-Free status to 57 counties in the Lower Peninsula, continued TB-Free status for the Upper Peninsula,  placed Presque Isle County into the Modified Accredited Advanced Zone (MAAZ) along with Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, and Otsego counties, and reduced the Modified Accredited Zone to areas with the highest risk of bovine TB in cattle.

To date, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has tested more than 188,977 free-ranging white-tailed deer, with 688 testing positive for bovine TB.  The TB testing numbers for the 2011 hunting season will be available in March 2012. 

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This news release can also be viewed at www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases and www.michigan.gov/mda. www.facebook.com/MIDeptofAgriculture@MichDeptofAg 

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