USDA changes federal bovine TB testing requirements
By Heather Thorstensen
hthorstensen@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 04/29/2010 10:44 AM
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ST. PAUL-- Most Minnesota cattle and bison producers no longer have to worry about federal bovine tuberculosis testing requirements before moving their livestock out of state.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued a federal order April 15 that removed all federal TB testing requirements for Modified Accredited Advanced zones, the status held by the majority of Minnesota.Previously, a TB test on breeding cattle was needed within 60 days of moving them out of the zone.
The change could save states and cattle producers thousands of dollars in testing costs, said Joe Martin, Minnesota's bovine TB coordinator.
Producers may still have some testing costs, though, because states decide what TB tests to require of cattle crossing their borders. Nebraska and South Dakota have said they will go along with the order, according to information from the Minnesota Department of Animal Health. Wisconsin and North Dakota may not, according to Martin. Producers should contact receiving states before shipping cattle.
The order signals a new approach of the nation's bovine TB eradication program. It is an interim measure until the program is fully updated. The program is being revised because TB is not as prevalent today in the nation's livestock as it was in the past.
"There's no longer a good reason for certain movement restrictions on animals unaffected by the disease, just because TB has been found elsewhere in the state," said John Clifford, chief veterinary officer for APHIS.
Martin supports the order and is frustrated about testing Minnesota producers paid for in the old program.
"We've proven that we've isolated the disease...but part of the frustration of all this, too, is certain states, like Wisconsin and North Dakota, continue to be a bit unreasonable," he said.
The federal order also ends the automatic downgrade of accredited-free states or zones when TB-affected herds are found, as long as the state meets criteria to prevent the disease from spreading.
This is positive for Minnesota, which asked USDA in March for upgrades of the state's two zones and hopes to have the majority of the state considered accredited-free, the top status, by Oct. 1.Minnesota will continue to beat risk for TB, said Martin, because other states are dealing with affected herds and it continues to enter the country through Mexican feeder cattle.
Official status upgrades will remove feeder cattle testing requirements for northwest Minnesota producers in the Modified Accredited zone. They would also bring the lowest TB status in the state up to Modified Accredited Advanced. Once that happens, North Dakota and Wisconsin, which base their TB testing requirements on a state's lowest status, will have to lighten their restrictions on Minnesota cattle crossing their borders, Martin said.
APHIS no longer recommends whole herd depopulations as the best way to manage TB. This is partly due to the large amount of money depopulation required. A "test and remove" system could be used instead. Affected herds would be put under quarantine and tested periodically. Animals that don't test negative would be removed and destroyed. Plans would be in place to prevent the spread of disease and surveillance would be conducted to detect if TB was present in other herds or species.
"The test and remove aspect is the right thing to do," said Martin. He saw depopulating herds in northwest Minnesota was especially difficult for herd owners, who saw decades of work put into those herds destroyed.