No bovine tuberculosis found in California cattle
Cattle can now be transported from California without a bovine tuberculosis (TB) test. Effective August 8, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has upgraded California to accredited free status for bovine TB.
It allows cattle and bison originating from California to be freely transported across state lines with no TB testing required.
According to APHIS, California's TB status was due to the discovery of the disease in dairy herds dating back to 2013. Those herds have now been declared free of TB and were released from quarantine. Bovine TB has not been found in any other herds since then.
"This announcement is several years, thousands of lab tests and hundreds of herd inspections in the making," says State Veterinarian Annette Jones.
"It is a testament to the biosecurity efforts of California dairies, and to the hard work of a lot of vets and animal health officials from the federal, state and local levels. It means some very welcome relief for our dairymen and women and our beef cattle ranchers, and they've earned it through their vigilance in protecting the health of their herds."
As part of the eradication program nearly 1.5 million cattle were tested for bovine TB in several hundred herds. Recent cases of bovine TB eradicated in California included one herd in San Bernardino County in 2009, three in San Bernardino County in 2011, and one in Tulare County in 2013.
While California has been accredited free of bovine TB, states like Michigan and Indiana have recently been dealing with the disease in cattle herds. This week Indiana officials discovered the first case of bovine TB in the wild from a white-tailed deer carrying bovine TB.
California dairy herds declared TB free
