Threat of TB in Manitoba

CANADA - Bovine tuberculosis carried by wild elk is increasingly threatening some Manitoba cattle herds, prompting farmers to call for a cull of the animals before more cows succumb to the disease.

13 October 2009

1 minute read

North America

Cattle and wild elk have lived side-by-side for well over a century around Riding Mountain National Park in western Manitoba reports The Canadian Press.

The elk which graze the cattle pastures bordering the park, share hay with cattle and drink from the same streams.

That has led to a rise recently in the number of cases of bovine tuberculosis. In the last eight years, 43 elk and 10 white-tailed deer have tested positive for the disease.

Farmers told The Canadian Press the threat is driving down the price of their exported cattle and forcing them to do costly testing of their herds. When a cow contracts the disease, a farmer can lose an entire herd and even some family pets. There is also concern that the disease could be passed to humans.

Farmers are calling for a cull of the elk — either by hunters or conservation officers — and increased testing of the carcases.