Monday, April 27, 2015

Tuberculosis hits Michigan dairy herd

Tuberculosis, likely originating in deer, continues to show up in dairy and beef cattle in Northern Michigan.

The most recent Alpena County, which is in the Southern part of the peninsula.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said Friday that routine surveillance testing made the confirmation in Alpena County.

The state says it is the 61st herd since 1998 to be infected. Bovine tuberculosis can pass from deer to cattle to humans.

Annual surveillance testing is designed to catch the disease in the earliest stages. Michigan has been testing cattle for bovine TB since 1995.


Tuberculosis was eradicated from Ontario’s dairy and beef herds in the 1950s.