If bovine tuberculosis tests of a cattle herd in southwestern North Dakota prove positive, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department plans to be ready to react, thanks to lessons learned by their counterparts in Minnesota.
"We're not above learning from other people's approaches, and adjusting it to our situation," says Randy Kreil, wildlife chief at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.
Minnesota authorities were unable to at first contain the spread of the disease, discovered last year in the northwestern part of the state. The local deer populations had been carrying the disease from one herd to the next, leading to multiple outbreaks. By the time the state authorized the deer kills to finally contain it, the damage was done, and Minnesota's bovine TB status had been downgraded.
North Dakota has been TB-free for more than 30 years. Even if the herd currently being tested turns out to be TB-positive, the state's TB status would remain unchanged unless a second herd is discovered within the next two years.
Testing
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North Dakota officials are planning to get the question of bovine TB in wildlife answered quickly, should tests on the herd in Morton County prove positive.
Testing of the cattle herd there began after a TB lesion was found on a cow during routine inspection at a meat processing plant in Long Prairie, Minn. The animal was traced back to the Morton herd, which numbers about 200 head. The North Dakota Board of Animal Health quarantined the herd until conclusive test results are returned.
The tests are being conducted at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. Results are expected sometime in mid-February.
Until then, North Dakota authorities are making plans to quickly initiate a deer sampling program, where all deer within a still undetermined radius of the cattle ranch would be killed and sent to Iowa for bovine TB testing.
"Our response plan is designed to quickly and effectively determine whether TB is occurring in wildlife," Kreil says. "We need to know that, and the only way you can find that out is to collect and test the animals, which means they have to die."
Ready to respond
They want to be able to move forward immediately, should the cattle tests come back TB-positive.
"If it's not, then it's been a good drill. It's been a good test to see how quickly we can respond and pull things together," he says. "And we'll have this response plan on the shelf, should we need it."
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He wants to start the sampling while snow is still on the ground, to ease the task of locating the animals, even though it adds complexity to the removal operations.
"Minnesota's deer densities are significantly higher than ours in southwest North Dakota," he says. "The topography is rugged and we do have some woodland areas, but it's certainly not the dense bush that Minnesota's got."
The Game and Fish plan designates teams of people that will locate and kill the animals, and other teams to retrieve the animals.
"We may be using aircraft," Kreil says. "We'll be using any technique or technology we can to get the job done."
