Saginaw County Bovine TB Trace Investigation Complete
January 17, 2013
Lansing – The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) today announced the culmination of the Saginaw County Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) investigation after testing 25,800 cattle on 373 farms. MDARD depopulated three TB positive farms, quarantined a third, and no other positive cattle have been revealed. As a result, the special surveillance areas have been released and the area is considered TB free.
A meeting for producers and interested public will be held at the Jonesfield Township Hall, 217 N. Eddy Street, Merrill, Michigan, on Thursday, January 30, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
“Bovine TB is a serious bacterial disease that can be transmitted from cattle to humans through close contact with diseased animals, or through drinking unpasteurized milk,” said Dr. Rick Smith, MDARD Bovine TB Program Director. “We are extremely fortunate to have diligent food safety inspectors, expert testing teams, and cooperative producers. Everyone stepped up and got the job done, which makes this announcement a positive one.”
In March 2013, a Saginaw County dairy farm was discovered to be bovine TB positive when a cull cow with lesions went to slaughter. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) examiners removed the cow and sent it for laboratory testing.
Slaughter surveillance is an important part of the food safety net. Since bovine TB is primarily spread through respiration, the bacterium is generally found in lung tissue. As a reminder however, to kill any bacteria, all meats should be thoroughly cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F for 15 seconds, and all milk should be pasteurized before consumption.
In March 2013, MDARD quarantined the Saginaw dairy farm as part of the bovine TB response plan, and started a trace investigation into where the farm’s cattle went, or came from, in the past five years. Nearly 26,000 cattle were tested as part of the trace investigation.
For more information, visit: www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases
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