Published Date: 1999-05-17 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH> Tuberculosis, bovine - USA (Michigan)
Archive Number: 19990517.0803
TUBERCULOSIS, BOVINE - USA (MICHIGAN)
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See Also
Brucellosis, bison - USA (Montana): control 990512165628Brucellosis, bison - USA (Montana): control (02) 990514201544
Bovine tuberculosis, imported - USA ex Canada 980415224902
Tuberculosis, bovine, wood bison - Canada (WBNP) 980730000726
Tuberculosis, bovine, wood bison - Canada (WBNP)(02) 980809225451
Tuberculosis, bovine - USA (Michigan) 980923135530
Tuberculosis, deer - USA (Michigan) 980316225249
Tuberculosis, deer - USA (Michigan) (02) 980405131310
Tuberculosis, deer/cattle transfer - USA (Michigan) 980625005851
Date: 16-May-1999 12:02
From: Marjorie P. Pollack, M.D. <pollackmp@mindspring.com>
Source: AP Online (edited)
The Michigan Department of Agriculture destroyed Mike and Kathy Warners' 21
cows last summer after 1 tested positive for deadly bovine tuberculosis
(TB). The farm was placed under quarantine for a year, off-limits to
livestock. "We've taken a beating," Mike Warner says, gazing out at the
empty barnyard.
His was the first of 3 farms in Michigan's northeastern Lower Peninsula
where cattle infected with bovine TB were discovered in the past year. In
each case, the entire herd has been put to death -- 173 cows altogether --
as officials scramble to prevent an epidemic that could profoundly affect
the state's livestock industry.
The source of the disease, spread through breath and body fluids, is
uncertain. Farmers believe it comes from whitetail deer roaming the
region's forests and fields, sometimes mingling with cattle.
More than 200 deer killed in the area since 1994 have been infected -- the
only sustained outbreak of bovine TB among free-ranging wildlife ever
documented in North America, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
The situation sparked a clash between 2 powerful interest groups: farmers,
who demand a sharp reduction in the deer population to curtail the spread
of bovine TB; and hunters, many of whom doubt that deer are to blame and
fear their sport is under attack.
Also involved are people who do business with farmers, and the tourism
industry, which relies on crowds of visitors during fall hunting season.
Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic lung disease that weakens and kills
animals. It could make people sick if they drank unpasteurized milk
containing the bacterium, although milk sold in supermarkets is pasteurized
and would pose no threat. There is no threat to humans eating beef from
infected cattle because the bacterium attacks the lungs and lymph nodes,
not muscle tissue people consume, state wildlife biologist Steve Schmitt
says.
Farmers say it's hard to overstate the risk to their livelihood.
State officials have ordered testing of all cattle in an 11-county area
between Lake Huron and Interstate 75. Its southernmost point is about 170
miles north of Detroit. The've also imposed a quarantine requiring updated
testing of cows shipped from there unless headed directly to slaughter.
The stigma has hampered sales of breeder cattle -- even those free of
bovine TB.
The buyers tell us, "You can test them every day but I still don't want
those cows," says Galen Schalk of Montmorency County, whose dairy farm has
about 225 cattle. It was quarantined for 6 months last year after tests
showed 7 cows might be infected. They eventually were cleared; in the
meantime, Schalk was barred from shipping animals to market.
If the USDA revoked Michigan's status as free of bovine TB, it would
require tests of any cattle shipped elsewhere and could cost the state
economy up to $156 million over a decade, a university study found.
For now, the USDA is planning to classify only the affected area of
Michigan as "non-modified TB-accredited." Federal and state officials are
working out the details, said Joe VanTiem, a USDA animal tuberculosis
specialist.
Texas, California, Pennsylvania and New Mexico also have "modified" status
because TB-infected cows or bison have been detected there in the past 5
years, VanTiem said. TB has been detected on a farm in North Dakota. Its
status will change if another infected herd is discovered there in the next
2 years.
Farmers in Michigan's northeast are grudgingly accepting the cattle tests
but want something done about deer, believed to number about 150,000 in the
bovine TB area.
"If they find one cow that tests positive for TB, they kill the whole
herd," dairyman Mike Tulgestke says. "All we're asking for is to reduce the
deer herd to the point that they're not spreading this stuff any more."
The TB outbreak may have been worsened by hunters who place crops such as
sugar beets and carrots in the woods through the winter, says VanTiem with
the USDA. Deer normally keep apart while foraging, but congregate around
large food piles, breathing and coughing on each other.
The heavily wooded northeastern Lower Peninsula is home to numerous hunting
clubs. Some have dumped truckloads of vegetables, attracting hundreds of
deer. That may explain why all confirmed bovine TB cases have been in that
region, says Keith Creagh, state deputy agriculture director.
His department last year prohibited feeding there, but a judge ruled in
March the agency had exceeded its authority. Supporters are pushing the
legislature for a statewide ban.
Meanwhile, a state commission has restricted baiting -- using food piles
during hunting season to lure deer within shooting range.
The clampdown angers advocates of feeding deer. "It'll wipe out deer ...
the first time we have a hard winter," says Brian Jenich of Detroit, who
has a hunting camp in the TB zone. He says the area is overgrazed and
feeding is essential to prevent mass starvation of deer.
Jenich is among hunters who contend bovine TB never disappeared from the
region's cattle and cows might have infected deer instead of the other way
around.
The Warner's herd appraised value was $20,000, most of which the state
reimbursed. But they've lost thousands in cattle sales, not to mention the
hay they sold at a discount because of fears it was tainted. Their barns
and equipment have been disinfected, and the quarantine on their farm ends
June 29. They're trying to get a loan to start over.
"I don't have a dime to buy a cow," says Warner, 49, who left his phone
company job four years ago and moved north to pursue a lifelong dream of
farming. "I don't have a good solution to the TB problem ... but I hope
somebody can come up with one or this area is going to lose its shirt."
--
ProMED-mail
e-mail: promed@usa.healthnet.org
[The debate as to the source of TB may never end. However, if the only
region where cattle are infected is in an area where deer are fed by
hunting clubs, then there may be evidence to support transmission from deer
to cattle at the present time. Perhaps, deer may not have been the original
source, just the source for this outbreak. - Mod.TG
................................tg/es
--
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