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Bovine tuberculosis in Michigan dropped last year, state saysLANSING, Mich. (AP)--The prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in Michigan deer dropped during last year's hunting season, state wildlife officials reported March 10. The prevalence rate was 1.4 percent in the northeastern Lower Peninsula--the core area of TB cases. The rate was 2.3 percent in 2006. Steve Schmitt, a wildlife veterinarian with the state Department of Natural Resources, said there's still a long way to go to eradicate the disease because of deer baiting and supplemental feeding. "This creates situations where the disease transmits easily from deer to deer," he said in a news release. TB is a deadly lung disease. The DNR tested more than 8,300 deer statewide for bovine TB; 27 were positive. The state also tested animals for chronic wasting disease, a contagious neurological disease affecting deer and elk. None of about 1,350 deer, 190 elk or seven moose tested had chronic wasting disease, Schmitt said. It hasn't been detected in Michigan since surveillance efforts began in 1998. Earlier this year, the state confirmed a case of bovine tuberculosis in a deer killed in Shiawassee County--well outside the part of Michigan where the disease previously had been concentrated. The threat of humans contracting bovine TB from animals is extremely remote. Mostly at risk are deer and other wildlife, along with the livestock industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture revoked Michigan's status as TB-free in 2000, and the state has labored to get it back. Being downgraded makes it hard for Michigan producers to market their cattle in other states. 4/7/08 Date: 4/1/08 Advertisement
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