Cattle TB confirmed in Texas

Cattle tuberculosis (TB) has been confirmed in a west Texas dairy that has been quarantined since April when some cattle in the herd responded to a TB test being conducted prior to a sale. (The sale was cancelled.) The cattle TB diagnosis was confirmed at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, where Mycoplasma bovis, the bacteria that causes TB, was cultured from tissues that had been collected during the necropsy of the test-positive cattle. "The infected herd remains quarantined while the final disposition of the herd is determined — either slaughtering the herd or repeatedly testing and removing infected animals until the herd is free of cattle TB," said Dr. Bob Hillman, Texas' state veterinarian and head of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC). "Dairy, calf-raising and dairy animal replacement operations with epidemiological links to the infected herd are being tested to determine both the origin and potential spread of the disease."...Feedstuffs