Oldtimer
Well-known member
What a mess is developing out of this California TB outbreak...
Here's a link to an update on the extent of the traceouts, in this instance to just one state:
Hope no one bought any dairy calves to bucket feed or graft onto cows :???:
Another instance where imports from Mexico are going to cost the industry Zillions $.......
Here's a link to an update on the extent of the traceouts, in this instance to just one state:
8/1/2008 6:00:00 AM
Idaho OKs bovine TB test
961 dairy bulls received from infected Calif. herd
Patricia R. McCoy
Capital Press
BOISE - The Idaho State Department of Agriculture may spend up to $5 million to test for bovine tuberculosis after learning that 961 registered Holstein bulls were shipped to the state from an infected herd in California since 2003.
State officials are still trying to get their hands around the extent of the problem, said Bill Barton, state veterinarian.
"The fact is that they came from a herd known to be infected with bovine TB, and we don't know when that herd became infected," Barton said. "Our understanding is that 2003 was the last time any of the three infected herds identified so far in California had a whole-herd TB test. We can't take the risk that one or more of the bulls may also have been infected and could have spread the disease here."
No cases of bovine TB have been found in Idaho, Barton said.
Barton and Celia Gould, director of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, appeared before the State Board of Examiners on July 17 to request the $5 million spending authority. The board formally approves all state expenditures. Members of the board are the governor, secretary of state, attorney general and state comptroller.
"All the imported bulls were registered Holsteins. So far, we know of no link to any beef cattle, but we're still looking," Barton said. "A lot of those bulls are already dead. A dairy bull gets so big so fast that the cows can't handle them, so they end up in the slaughter channels at about 1,600 to 1,700 pounds."
The investigation shows the California bulls were sold to at least three Idaho dairies. A few went to a livestock market. The majority went to a livestock dealer in the state, who then resold them to many others, the state veterinarian said. That dealer is working with ISDA to identify where all the bulls he resold went.
"We've finished testing the entire herd on one dairy. The results were all negative. Hopefully things will continue to go that way, but because we received potentially exposed animals in this state, we're making sure. We're gearing up to test the second in the next week or two," he said. "The third dairy involved is a very large facility."
He said testing at the large dairy is still in the planning stages.
"Our biggest problem right now is that we don't know how many herds were potentially exposed. It will take time to determine that," Barton said. "That's why we requested such a huge spending authority."
California officials are still sending trace-outs, notifying neighboring states of herds who received bulls or other animals from the infected herds, he said.
"This is a very fluid situation. It changes daily," Barton said. "We want to test every exposed herd, to provide the greatest degree of protection for our Idaho industry, and maintain the state's TB-free status so our producers can freely sell and export animals."
Testing for bovine tuberculosis is not a simple matter, the state veterinarian said. An initial skin sensitivity test is administered in the caudal fold of the tail. That test must be read 72 hours later. If an animal responds, a more detailed skin test on the neck or a blood test for gamma interferon must be administered.
"This isn't a cut-and-dried process of pulling a blood sample and you're done. It takes a lot of people reading and recording each animal's identification number, injecting the test, then coming back to read the results," Barton said.
Bovine TB poses no risk or threat to consumers so long as they eat only pasteurized dairy products. The tuberculosis bacterium is killed readily by pasteurization, he said. Unpasteurized milk or cheese poses a potential risk.
The other infection route is through the respiratory system, so people working in close contact with an infected animal are potentially at risk, he said.
"If any infected animal is found, the entire herd will have to be depopulated," he said. "This is a very insidious disease. Any animal can test negative early on and still be infected."
As for the herders, milkers or owners, we're working closely with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. They also have district veterinarians on staff. If we find an infected herd, we'll work closely with those people to do a risk assessment. They would make the call as to whether or not to test potentially exposed humans."
Staff writer Pat McCoy is based in Boise. E-mail: [email protected].
Hope no one bought any dairy calves to bucket feed or graft onto cows :???:
Another instance where imports from Mexico are going to cost the industry Zillions $.......
