Tuberculosis Disease Information |
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Bovine Tuberculosis |
Tuberculosis in Cattle and Bison
Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease of both animals and humans. It is caused by three specific types of bacteria that are part of the Mycobacterium group: Mycobacterium bovis, M. avium, and M. tuberculosis.
Bovine TB, caused by M. bovis, can be transmitted from livestock to humans and other animals. No other TB organism has as great a host range as bovine TB, which can infect all warm blooded vertebrates. M. avium can affect all species of birds, as well as hogs and cattle. M. tuberculosis primarily affects humans but can also be transmitted to hogs, cattle, and dogs.
Bovine TB has affected animal and human health since antiquity. Once the most prevalent infectious disease of cattle and swine in the United States, bovine TB caused more losses among U.S. farm animals in the early part of this century than all other infectious diseases combined. Begun in 1917, the Cooperative State-Federal Tuberculosis Eradication Program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), State animal health agencies, and U.S. livestock producers, has nearly eradicated bovine TB from the Nation's livestock population. This disease's presence in humans has been reduced as a result of the eradication program, advances in sanitation and hygiene, the discovery of effective drugs, and pasteurization of milk.
Captive Cervid Regulations
The Bovine TB Eradication Captive Cervid Uniform Methods and Rules (UMR) are still being finalized. Finalization has been delayed as we complete a comprehensive revision of the bovine and cervid sections of the Code of Federal Regulations. Until the new UMR are released, the cervid methods and rules outlined in the 1999 Bovine TB Eradication UMR (PDF 90KB) are in effect.
The regulations for captive cervid herd accreditation have been revised and can be found in the Federal Register, Thursday, April 27, 2006 (Docket No. 04-094-2) (PDF 57KB). Changes include a reduction in the time to gain accredited status and an extension of the interval between tests in order to maintain accreditation
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