Contacts:
Kelly Loftus, Agency of Agriculture, (802) 828-3829

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Montpelier, Vt – The final test results of a cow from a farm in the Northeast Kingdom, which tested as a reactor to Bovine Tuberculosis, have returned negative.

On May 4, 2007 two cows on the Northeast Kingdom farm tested as responders to tuberculosis during routine testing done for interstate shipment. The Agency of Agriculture was notified and administered additional tests which returned negative in one cow, but continued to be positive for the second animal, classifying it as a reactor.

As a result, the farm was quarantined and a necropsy of the animal was performed to definitively confirm if the animal had bovine tuberculosis. The testing takes 8 weeks. Tissue samples were submitted to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture was notified on July 24, 2007 that the tests were negative for bovine tuberculosis.

“Bovine tuberculosis is an infectious and contagious disease of cattle that usually affects the lungs. It is possible for the disease to spread to other animals and humans,” said Mike Wood, DVM with the Agency of Agriculture. “A human could contract Bovine tuberculosis through very close contact with an infected animal or by drinking un-pasteurized milk from an infected animal.”

The entire herd (over 400 animals) of the farm in question was tested for bovine tuberculosis with negative results. The farm is no longer under quarantine and Vermont continues to be a certified tuberculosis free state. Vermont first gained this certification in 1979 after five years without any cases of bovine tuberculosis in the state.