A Colorado rodeo bull has undergone a necropsy to determine whether it carried bovine tuberculosis as part of an investigation that, so far, has found one other animal testing positive in the state for the disease.
Tests are expected to be completed next week.
Infected cattle must be found in two or more separate herds before the U.S. Department of Agriculture can yank a state’s TB Accredited Free State status, said Terry Fankhauser, executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association.
Colorado Agriculture Department spokeswoman Christi Lightcap said the bull now being tested was found in a separate herd from the other that tested positive.
The state’s cattle industry could lose its tuberculosis-free accreditation if the bull now being tested has the disease. The animal has been in at least a dozen states. “Other states are keeping a close eye on this,” said Lightcap.
The accreditation is necessary to allow cattle producers to ship livestock freely without costly testing.
“What it amounts to is, we would, as a state, have to institute a higher level of testing to move animals from state to state, and there is an economic impact to that,” Fankhauser said.
Infected cattle are destroyed and their herds quarantined, said Terry Stokes, chief executive of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
When mad cow disease was detected in some U.S. cattle in 2004, Asian countries restricted beef imports, hurting the U.S. beef industry.
Finding bovine tuberculosis in a herd is unlikely to result in similar restrictions, Stokes said. “It is very isolated so it doesn’t have a universal effect on trade, but it can have a regional or local impact on trade.”
Bovine tuberculosis is a serious disease caused by bacteria that attack the respiratory system. There are three types of TB — human, avian and bovine. It is the most infectious of the three, capable of infecting humans and most mammals.
It is spread primarily by respiratory aerosols being exhaled or coughed out by infected animals.
It also can spread through ingestion of infected meat and unpasteurized, but infected, milk, said Robert Callan, associate professor in the department of clinical sciences at Colorado State University.
Because the USDA inspects beef for the disease before it is sold and milk is routinely pasteurized, it is unlikely that it would spread to humans, said Fankhauser. The disease cannot be spread by beef that is cooked properly, he added.
“Getting the bull tested is a key step in protecting Colorado’s livestock,” said Colorado State Veterinarian John Maulsby in a news release. “This disease investigation has far-reaching effects, and this is a necessary action in order for animal-health officials to effectively deal with it.”
The investigation by the Colorado Department of Agriculture and the USDA began in January, when a Douglas County bull was sold to a meat-packing plant in San Angelo, Texas.
During routine inspection of the carcass, lesions were discovered in the lungs of the bull. Throughout the investigation, about 2,000 Colorado animals have been tested.
“Colorado has been a TB Accredited Free State since 1975,” said Maulsby. “State and federal officials continue to work to protect that status.”
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
