Kalamazoo Times

Michigan's state veterinarian, Nora Wineland, in early February released a statement regarding the discovery of a bovine tuberculosis-positive herd in Oscoda County.

A bacterial disease, bovine tuberculosis (TB) can affect all mammals, including humans. It is commonly present in the free-range white-tailed deer community of the four-county area that includes Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency, and Oscoda in northeastern lower Michigan, according to a press release on the state's website.

The disease can be passed on among cattle and deer. While state and federal agencies are taking steps to contain bovine TB, the continued hunting of deer in this area is vital in maintaining a healthy community of deer, the release said.

"Bovine TB was recently confirmed in an Oscoda County dairy herd, located in Michigan’s Modified Accredited Zone (MAZ)," Wineland said, according to the release. "On January 25, 2022, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the presence of the disease in one of the animals from this herd."

Additional testing will be completed to make sure that the remaining cattle are healthy and if there are other animals infected with the disease. Those infected will be removed, according to the release.

"Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic disease, and small lesions in wild white-tailed deer often are not readily recognized," state officials said. "Abscesses may not be visible to hunters when field-dressing wild deer. Indeed, most infected white-tailed deer appear healthy. Affected animals may have yellow to tan, pea-sized nodules in the chest cavity or lungs. Lymph nodes of the head and neck can be swollen and necrotic."

State officials said TB is often centralized in a few head or thorax lymph nodes, causing the infected to appear healthy.

An epidemiologic investigation is ongoing to determine the source of infection and rule out additional cases in the herd, the release said.