The reoccurrence of bovine tuberculosis infections in northeast Michigan cattle herds results in the need for more landowners to use disease control permits.
The latest discovery of bovine tuberculosis (TB) infections in northeast Michigan cattle herds is a cause for concern for Michigan’s entire cattle industry. It has not been uncommon to identify an infected herd annually within the four-county Modified Accredited Zone (MAZ), which includes Alpena, Alcona, Oscoda and Montmorency counties. However, the two latest herds that tested TB positive were discovered in Presque Isle and Emmet counties, both of which are TB-free counties. How does this affect the cattle industry across the state?
This year, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) signed a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the USDA. In this new MOA, finding one or more positive cattle herds with bacteria from the MAZ deer strain in Michigan’s TB-free counties mandates that discussions with USDA be initiated to discuss different response activities including changing TB zoning and/or increasing cattle and deer surveillance.
Though the apparent prevalence of TB-infected deer in the MAZ is not high (between 2-3 percent in 2018), when these deer leave behind the bacteria on feed or forage that are consumed by cattle, infection of cattle can occur. Removing deer that have become acclimated to farms is a means to reduce the risk of cattle infection while still maintaining a wild whitetail deer population. In 2018, hunters harvested an estimated 19,359 deer in the MAZ, while only 552 deer were harvested by disease control permits comparatively.
Presently, MDARD and USDA are in the midst of negotiations to determine what the fate of Presque Isle County’s TB-free status will be and what new requirements cattle producers there will have to comply with.
One tool that is available, and underutilized, to help decrease the incidence of herd infections in northeast Michigan is the recent expansion in landowners’ accessibility to disease control permits. Beginning in 2019, any landowner in Presque Isle, Montmorency, Alpena, Oscoda and Alcona counties that has a cattle or bison operation on their land, as well as any landowner that has property joining a cattle or bison operation, is eligible to obtain an unlimited amount of disease control permits, at no cost, and they are valid 365 days a year. In the rest of the counties where biosecurity measures and TB testing of cattle are required, these permits are also available to any of those same landowners; however, the disease control permits in these areas are not valid during deer seasons in these counties.
Additionally, all other agricultural operations can obtain disease control permits at no cost that are valid year-round, excluding deer seasons. Other agricultural operations can also obtain these disease control permits if considered eligible by proximity to infected deer or livestock herd. This also applies to non-agricultural landowners within the MAZ, as well as the remainder of the state where MDARD biosecurity and TB testing is required.
Disease control permit holders who kill deer under this program must turn in the heads for TB examination. Carcasses cannot be left in the field; they must be handled either for their meat or disposed of properly. — Michigan State University
