A trial to see if deer will consume oral vaccines shows some promise for preventing the spread of bovine tuberculosis in wild animals.
Last spring, researchers deployed 1,500 oral vaccines, hidden in cubes with shredded hay and molasses in the Alpena area.
The goal was to see whether wild deer would fall for the bait, and if oral vaccines could be a viable tool to cut down on bovine TB. The study found that deer across 16 study sites consumed roughly 60% of the medicine.
Emily Sewell is a wildlife health specialist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. She said the department harvested a little over 100 dear in the area, but was not able to confirm the vaccine uptake rates through a blood test.
"We can kind of infer from penned trials that if those deer receive the vaccine, then they would have good protection," Sewell said.
Sewell said the consumption rate was higher than expected, even with last year's mild winter.
"Food was available everywhere, so even without those deer really seeking out the sites where we were placing the vaccine delivery units, they were still hitting them," she said. "In a more typical winter, we would see even better consumption."
Sewell said there is no future work planned due to funding limitations, and that no further vaccination of wild deer will happen until larger-scale testing of deer for the vaccine with a test or biomarker is feasible.
Out of the 7,339 deer that were tested in 2023, 28 were positive for the disease. The state will be releasing the 2024 testing results in April.
The bacteria responsible for bovine TB, Mycobacterium bovis, contributes to less than 2% of TB cases in Americans every year.
For more information about bovine TB, visit the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development page on the disease.
Editor's note: The Michigan DNR is a sponsor of WCMU. We report on them as we do with any other organization.
