Mass Slaughter as TB Runs Wild California
US - More than 4,800 dairy cows at risk of carrying tuberculosis were being slaughtered this month in central California, where nearly 16,000 cattle in the country's largest milk-producing region have been quarantined, federal officials said.
23 July 2008
1 minute read
According to the Beloit Daily News, Undersecretary of Agriculture Bruce Knight met privately with local dairy operators July 8 along with the state veterinarian and other industry officials monitoring three new cases of TB recently discovered in Fresno County dairies.
Federal and state agriculture officials were still tightlipped about the identities and locations of the three dairies where cows tested positive for the disease, which can be transmitted to humans and other mammals through the air or through drinking unpasteurized milk from an infected cow.
The discovery of the highly contagious respiratory disease prompted changes in interstate shipping regulations.
Pasteurization kills the TB bacteria, but trade organizations still worry about the possible financial impact on California's $7.3 billion dairy industry.
TheCattleSite News Desk
