Manitoba cattle producers see a chance that bovine tuberculosis could one day be eradicated around Riding Mountain National Park, provided tough measures to combat the disease continue.
The disease was confirmed in three cattle herds in the park area this winter, resulting in the slaughter of those herds. The presence of the disease also has meant that breeding cattle from Manitoba destined for the United States must test free of the disease before being exported.
Betty Green, president of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, said scientists have told her association that if the disease can be brought down to a low enough level in the area’s wildlife, it could eventually vanish.
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Green, a cattle producer at Fisher Branch, Man., is encouraged by the recent commitment from Parks Canada to cull and test elk within the park for the disease. Also important, she said, is the commitment to step up testing of wild elk in areas near the park where the disease seems to pose the greatest risk to cattle.
Green also said she welcomes a closer examination of the possible role that white-tailed deer might be playing in the spread of the disease.
There is a suspicion that deer might have had a role in the infection of the cattle herd in the Rural Municipality of Rosedale, the last of three herds to be confirmed with an infection.
The province has slaughtered some deer in that area to test for tuberculosis. The results should be back in June or July.
Several other measures are also in place to help curtail the risk of the disease spreading between wildlife and area cattle herds. That includes barrier fencing to keep wild elk out of hay stacks, and controlled burns within the park to improve elk habitat so that they are less inclined to enter fields and mingle with cattle.
While encouraged by the different measures, Green said it’s imperative that the work be continued if there is to be any chance of eliminating bovine TB in Manitoba.
Manitoba cattle producers around the park allowed their herds to be tested for TB this winter. It was that testing that resulted in the discovery of three infected herds.
