Additional Bovine TB Found In New Mexico

Bovine tuberculosis (TB) has been diagnosed in a dairy cow in Eddy County and a connection with a TB positive animal in Colorado has been made with a beef herd in northeastern New Mexico, according to New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association (NMCGA) President Bill Sauble, Maxwell. “The disease is an animal disease and poses no human health risk,” he said. “But the costs associated with it can be devastating to cattlemen and dairymen.” There were two cases of bovine TB found in New Mexico in 2003 which resulted in the loss of the state’s TB Free status, he explained. Without that status, all breeding-age animals leaving the state must be tested. That testing requires running an animal through a chute twice in a three-day period with a veterinarian on hand, he continued. The testing alone costs $10 to $12 per head, with labor, feed and handling costs driving the total cost to as much as $25 per animal. Utilizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 2000 TB Rule, the New Mexico Livestock Board (NMLB) was able to “regionalize” a small area in the eastern part of the state where producers must comply with the testing requirements, said Sauble, who also serves as NMLB vice chairman, while the rest of the state went back to the TB Free status. “This new case has the potential to take the whole state back the Accredited Modified Advanced status and triggering the need for testing statewide,” he explained. “The USDA’s TB rule provides only two (2) options for states to take when the disease is identified, and the agency is looking at eliminating one of them.” States may regionalize a zone with enhanced management and surveillance or they may depopulate the herd where the disease is diagnosed, he said. However, USDA is currently revising its’ TB rule to eliminate the regionalization option. The USDA has no funding for depopulation, so New Mexico may be left with no option but adding up to $3 million a year to the operating expenses of the beef and dairy industries in the state. Testing of both dairy and beef herds is ongoing and it will be up to 30 days before a final decision is made on whether or not the TB Free status will be lost, according to Sauble. The NMLB, NMCGA and other groups are working with the New Mexico Congressional delegation, Governor Bill Richardson and the Legislature to ensure the least possible impact on the state’s livestock industry.