A herd of cows in Charlevoix, Michigan is still under investigation after the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, or MDARD, confirmed a cow tested positive for Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) in February.
Bovine TB is a disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis bacteria. It is most common in cattle, elk and deer, according to the MDARD website.
Humans can contract the disease by consuming unpasteurized dairy products, or coming into direct contact with a wound of an infected animal, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website.
For animals, the disease spreads through the air.
Michigan’s State Veterinarian, Nora Wineland, said because Bovine TB spreads easily between animals, herds are quarantined from the point of initial exposure until the herd is deemed free of the disease.
After infection is detected, Wineland said, “we will generally embark on what is called a ‘test and remove’ program."
Phil Durst, a field-based Educator with Michigan State University Extension, says the quarantine and testing can take up to two years.
Durst says two rounds of antigen tests are administered to the cattle every 60 days. If any cow has a reaction to both tests, the animal is culled from the heard and taken to a lab for further examination.
Durst says farmers are compensated for cattle they lose to Bovine TB, but the burden of keeping a herd of cows at a farm is costly.
“We (farmers) depend on animals to be able to leave the farm," Durst said. "If we have to continue to raise, for instance, male bull calves on a dairy farm, that's not something that they're set up to do."
Facilities can face overcrowding and run out of feed, Durst added.
The goal for agriculture officials, Wineland said, is to eradicate the disease completely.
“We do have a history in Michigan of it being capable of spreading between cattle and deer, and that's a concern and something that we're keenly wishing to understand," she said.
Most of Michigan is typically free of Bovine TB. But Norther lower Michigan Counties like Alcona, Alpena, Oscoda, and Montmorency have a white tail deer population that is known to carry the disease.
Durst said farmers in those counties are taking extra precautions to prevent the spread of Bovine TB amongst deer and possible transmission to their cattle.
“Everything from protecting feed and water to making sure that [wild] animals don't have access,” Durst said.
Wendall Miller is a dairy farmer from Engadine in the Upper Peninsula. He thinks the current solutions are managing the problem but not fixing it.
“Bovine TB will not be eradicated by the means people are currently using,” Miller said. “But introducing wolves to the northern part of the lower peninsula would.”
Miller believes more wolves will keep deer from congregating and manage their population.
Ultimately, even with precautions, Durst said eradicating Bovine TB will take a community effort.
“This includes landowners, hunters, and farmers together,” Durst said. “It's important that they control the deer population through hunting and that they control deer that come on the farms.”
