The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is looking for livestock that might have been exposed to bovine tuberculosis (TB) through an infected bull that lived on farms in Alberta and British Columbia.
CFIA said Friday (Nov. 9) that it’s working with the affected producers on this investigation. All animals found to have been exposed to bovine TB will be ordered destroyed and compensation will be paid to the owners, the agency said.
The Canadian Press news agency on Sunday (Nov. 11) quoted a CFIA official as saying about 470 cattle would need to be slaughtered and about 30 farms quarantined in the two provinces. CP quoted a senior CFIA vet as saying the bull was from a farm at Vanderhoof, B.C., west of Prince George.
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Canada’s herds are considered to be free from bovine TB, which is a reportable disease in Canada, but cases such as this one occur “from time to time,” CFIA said.
Bovine TB can infect all types of mammals, including humans, CFIA said in a statement. Infection usually results from extended, close contact with an infected animal. If people are identified as possibly having been exposed to the disease, “the appropriate public health follow-up” will be initiated, CFIA said.
