Bovine tuberculosis is one export North Dakota cattle ranchers don’t want to see filter in from Canada.
But it may be too late.
Livestock specialists in North Dakota are on alert after seven cattle from a TB-infested Manitoba herd turned up in the state last month.
The seven heifers originated from a herd in Rossburn, Man., where some cattle were diagnosed with bovine tuberculosis earlier this year.
Larry Schuler, a state veterinarian, said farmers are concerned but it’s too early to panic.
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Evidence the disease has spread into the state would strip it of its TB-free status, meaning animals would have to be tested before leaving the state.
That could cost up to $15 (U.S.) a head, but wouldn’t be the most serious concern.
“You start looking at international trade and reputation as well,” Schuler said.
North Dakota cattle have been TB-free since the early 1980s.
About 400 animals on three ranches in north-central North Dakota are under quarantine now after the Rossburn cattle were sold to a buyer there last May.
Initial testing should be complete by the end of this week, and a second round will get under way in 12 months.
Alert of a possible spread was issued as part of a traceback program carried out by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in charge of communicable diseases.
Will continue search
A spokesperson for the agency said the investigation will continue even though no cattle have tested positive for the disease.
“The risk is small but indeed what we are doing is leaving no stones unturned,” said George Luterbach, who’s handling the traceback for the CFIA.
The policy in Canada is to destroy and examine all live sales from the original infected herd. That’s not always the case in the United States, he said.
“They have a choice of what they do with them but we’re providing the same opportunity as we would have to deal with it … . We’re informing the Americans of purchases there and they are checking them out.”
A similar process is under way in Nebraska, where three animals from the Rossburn herd were sold.
“They are tracing them out but presumably a feeder animal in 1995 has long since been fattened and slaughtered and if TB was present one would assume we would have heard by now,” Luterbach said.
The traceback hasn’t led investigators to any new cases of TB in Canada, he said.
In total, 30 animals from Rossburn and one from Virden tested positive. The herd was slaughtered, along with another herd near Virden contaminated by one animal purchased from the Rossburn herd.
