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Wildebeest herd to be killed after spreading virus to cattleBRYAN, Texas (AP)--A herd of wildebeest at a Texas cattle ranch will be euthanized after at least six cows were found infected with a disease carried by wildebeest at the same ranch, agricultural officials said April 29. The Robertson County cattle ranch is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, officials said. The cows are infected with malignant catarrhal fever, commonly called MCF. It is not contagious among cattle but can be spread from a cow to her calf, federal officials said. It is highly fatal to cattle but poses no threat to humans, officials said. About 130 breeding heifers were recently shipped from the ranch to Illinois, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and other parts of Texas, according to a USDA statement. Earlier this month, one died on a Louisiana farm that was then put under temporary quarantine, a state official there said. Camp Cooley Ranch, the ranch in question, covers about 11,000 acres. Ranch President Mark Cowan said the ranch reported the infection to the Texas Animal Health Commission after a veterinarian made the diagnosis. When infectious diseases are discovered, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service routinely works to quarantine the facility and euthanize any infected animals, said service spokeswoman Karen Eggert. The wildebeest herd on the ranch has between 15 and 20 animals, Cowan said. All will be killed. "We've been fully cooperating with their investigation, providing them with all the details that we possibly could to aid them in their investigation into the cause and trying to identify possibly exposed animals," Cowan said in a story for the April 30 Bryan-College Station Eagle. "The wildebeest herd has been here for 15 years and we've never had any incidents in the past. But we're a cattle ranch. If they can infect cattle, we really don't want any of them." 5/12/08 Date: 5/6/08
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