The South Dakota Animal Industry Board website entry for bovine tuberculosis notes:
Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. The disease has the ability to spread between livestock, wildlife and humans. A State-Federal Cooperative Bovine TB eradication program was established in 1917 and has been successful in nearly eradicating Bovine TB in the US. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recognized South Dakota as "Bovine TB Free" continuously since 1982.
The SDAIB continues to work with USDA and industry to prevent the entry of TB into SD and to detect and eradicate the disease if it should appear in the state. Any cattle coming into SD that may have an increased risk of being infected with TB must meet additional pre-entry testing requirements.
State/federal veterinarians conduct follow-up testing on any South Dakota cattle that are found to be suspect during routine TB testing by private herd veterinarians. Also, state/federal meat inspectors examine all animals for evidence of TB at slaughter. Any suspicious lesions are collected and sent to a federal diagnostic laboratory for testing. If TB is found in a SD origin animal, an investigation is initiated to find the source of the animal and if there are any exposed animals.
That's not to say bovine TB doesn't strike the state. The South Dakota Searchlight and other Mount Rushmore State media are reporting that a steer from Governor Noem's home county has been detected during a routine inspection at a Wisconsin packing plant.
In Minnesota, the disease struck cattle herds and wild deer in 2005 in Northwest Minnesota. Through aggressive intervention with cattle producers, then wild deer culling, the disease was eliminated in wild deer by 2012, according to the Minnesota DNR. Bluestem posted about this ground-breaking effort in 2022's post, Were Minnesota's efforts to stop bovine TB only directed against beef producers to protect deer?
South Dakota's state veterinarian Beth Thompson worked in the North Star State during part of that period, according to Farm progress's April 2022 report, Thompson returns home as state vet:
The Groton, S.D., native has been the state veterinarian and executive director of Minnesota’s Board of Animal Health since 2016, but she had been with the Minnesota BAH since 2008 having served as a senior veterinarian and program director before becoming assistant director in 2014.
From the South Dakota Searchlight.
Cattle tuberculosis confirmed in SD for first time since 2021
by South Dakota Searchlight StaffBovine tuberculosis has been confirmed in South Dakota cattle for the first time since 2021, State Veterinarian Beth Thompson said Tuesday.
The infected steer was identified in late October by meat inspectors during a routine inspection at a Wisconsin packing plant. Records linked the steer to a Hamlin County, South Dakota, feedlot that had marketed the animal. The infection was confirmed by the National Veterinary Surveillance Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, on Dec. 6.
The State Veterinarian’s Office said it is working with the feedlot owner and other producers who may have sold animals purchased by the feedlot, as well as federal officials and area veterinarians, to locate the steer’s source herd.
“Necessary precautions are being taken to protect the health of South Dakota’s cattle industry,” the State Veterinarian’s Office said in a news release.
The cattle industry is a major part of South Dakota’s economy, with U.S. Department of Agriculture data showing there are more than 3 million cattle in the state.
Bovine tuberculosis is not considered a threat to food safety, thanks to milk pasteurization and meat inspection programs, the State Veterinarian’s Office said.
But the chronic, slowly progressive respiratory disease can be transmitted among cattle when they’re in close proximity for prolonged periods. Cattle rarely exhibit visible signs of illness, and testing of cattle herds is necessary to determine if animals are infected.
Photo: Cattle on a pasture near Eureka in 2024. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Nope, no raw milk for me, since only two counties separate Hamlin and Roberts Counties--and there are a lot of both beef and dairy cattle in this area.
This South Dakota Searchlight article is republished online under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
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