Bovine TB Found in Colorado
US - A Colorado rodeo bull has undergone a necropsy to determine whether it carried bovine tuberculosis as part of an investigation that, so far, has found one other animal testing positive in the state for the disease.
16 August 2007
2 minute read
Tests are expected to be completed next week.
Infected cattle must be found in two or more separate herds before the U.S. Department of Agriculture can yank a state's TB Accredited Free State status, said Terry Fankhauser, executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association.
"as a state, have to institute a higher level of testing to move animals from state to state, and there is an economic impact to that"
Terry Fankhauser, executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association.
Colorado Agriculture Department spokeswoman Christi Lightcap said the bull now being tested was found in a separate herd from the other that tested positive.
The state's cattle industry could lose its tuberculosis-free accreditation if the bull now being tested has the disease. The animal has been in at least a dozen states. "Other states are keeping a close eye on this," said Lightcap.
The accreditation is necessary to allow cattle producers to ship livestock freely without costly testing.
"What it amounts to is, we would, as a state, have to institute a higher level of testing to move animals from state to state, and there is an economic impact to that," Fankhauser said.
Infected cattle are destroyed and their herds quarantined, said Terry Stokes, chief executive of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
When mad cow disease was detected in some U.S. cattle in 2004, Asian countries restricted beef imports, hurting the U.S. beef industry. For more information on Bovine Tuberculosis, click here.
Source: Denver Post
