Indiana to Lessen Import Restrictions on Michigan Livestock

Contact: Sara Linsmeier (517) 241-4282

Agency: Agriculture and Rural Development

Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Dan Wyant today announced that Indiana will ease its import requirements regarding bovine tuberculosis (TB) testing on Michigan livestock. Wyant and other Michigan representatives visited with the Indiana State Board of Animal Health today to provide scientific information that assisted them in making this decision.

"Michigan applauds Indiana's science-based decision making," Wyant said. "Their regulations are based on solid, scientific risk assessment and should be a model for other states to follow."

State Veterinarian Michael Chaddock said that under the new requirements, Michigan cattle, goats, bison and privately-owned cervids heading for Indiana from the State of Michigan must test negative for bovine TB on a whole herd test within the last year. In addition, the individual animal being shipped must have tested negative within 60 days prior to movement.

"In addition to the whole herd and individual animal tests, animals from 25 northern counties in Michigan's lower peninsula fall under more stringent requirements," Chaddock said. "These 25 counties include the 11 where bovine TB has been confirmed in deer and livestock as well as the counties contiguous to them. Animals from these counties will be required to be quarantined on the premises of the purchaser and re-tested between 90 and 120 days after entry."

The 25 counties that fall under the more restrictive requirements are: Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Arenac, Cheboygan, Charlevoix, Clare, Crawford, Grand Traverse, Iosco, Isabella, Kalkaska, Lake, Mecosta, Missaukee, Montcalm, Montmorency, Newaygo, Ogemaw, Osceola, Oscoda, Otsego, Presque Isle, Roscommon and Wexford.

Chaddock also said Indiana has removed its TB testing requirements for importation of sheep and camelids. He recommended that producers and veterinarians call the states of destination for livestock movements to assure compliance with early requirements.

Bovine TB is a serious bacterial disease that affects primarily the respiratory system, and sometimes the digestive system, of livestock and deer. To date, over 99,928 Michigan livestock and privately-owned cervids (deer and elk) have been tested for bovine TB. Michigan has approximately 1.3 million cattle on 17,000 farms and 200,000 goats, bison and privately-owned cervids.

To date, there have been only eight cattle herds out of 2,016 tested that were confirmed to be infected with bovine TB and one privately-owned cervid herd out of 500 tested. In addition, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has examined nearly 45,000 hunter-harvested deer for bovine TB statewide since 1995, and diagnostically tested 38,000 of them. Scientists have confirmed 285 deer as TB-positive. The herds and all but three deer (one each from Antrim, Mecosta and Osceola counties) have been found in the original TB-infected zone of the Northeastern lower peninsula.

Michigan's delegation to Indiana included Wyant, Chaddock, Bob Bender, Bovine TB Eradication Project Coordinator; Dr. Steve Schmitt, DNR wildlife veterinarian; Ron Nelson, Michigan Farm Bureau representative; Monty Bordner, cattle producer; and Elwood Kirkpatrick Michigan Milk Producers Association President. The risk assessment analysis was done by John Kaneene, DVM, MPH, PhD, Michigan State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Population Medicine Center.

The Bovine TB Eradication Project involves a multi-agency team of experts from the Michigan departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Community Health, Michigan State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.