By NANCY VORIS
Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) said a southeastern Indiana beef herd tested negative for bovine tuberculosis (TB or Mycobacterium bovis). The herd is linked to a cow that tested positive for the disease in late November through routine testing at a meat processing facility in Pennsylvania.

BOAH officials continue to track and test sources of the herd and are contacting any producers who may have sold into the herd.
Dr. Jim Hollis, who is working on the BOAH investigative team, said isolated cases such as this are common.

“It’s very, very uncommon to have a whole herd affected, and there’s a low prevalence in population,” Hollis said. “It’s not an actively spreading disease like TB in humans, where we are coughing and sneezing on each other. In cattle, the disease doesn’t progress like that.”

In California, only one cow in each of three dairy operations tested positive for bovine TB in the past year, but it was enough for the state to lose its “accredited free” status and to receive a “modified accredited advanced” designation from the USDA.

The last time a Hoosier herd tested positive for the disease was in the 1970s. Indiana has held a bovine tuberculosis-free status since 1984 with the USDA. Under federal guidelines, that status remains.
Though regarded as a nuisance to some producers, animal ID has been crucial in tracing the path of the infected cow and curtailing public fears of an outbreak.

“Our premise ID in Indiana has been huge and allowed us to look for premises near the source,” Hollis said. “It is a big help, and national ID would have helped more. That’s why we emphasize ID and keeping good records.”

BOAH spokesperson Janelle Thompson said the combination of premise ID and animal ID tags worked well together. “We were able to track where the animals went in and out,” she said.

National Animal Identification System (NAIS)-compliant 840 electronic tags are available free of charge for dairy and beef herds to any Indiana resident. For more information, e-mail animalID@boah.in.gov or call 317-227-0328.

Bovine TB is a chronic bacterial disease that affects primarily cattle, but can be transmitted to any warm-blooded animal. It is difficult to diagnose through clinical signs alone and those signs are not clearly visible in the early stages of the disease.

Later signs may include emaciation, lethargy, weakness, anorexia, low-grade fever and pneumonia with a chronic, moist cough. Lymph node enlargement may also be present. Cattle owners who notice these signs in their livestock should contact their private veterinarian. There is presently no vaccine available for the disease.

December 31, 2008