The investigation of a bovine tuberculosis case confirmed in B.C's Southern Interior includes some Alberta herds.

Back on Friday, November 9, lab results confirmed the case in a mature beef cow from a southern B.C. farm which was presented for slaughter in an Alberta federal plant.

Alberta Beef Producer's Beef Production Specialist, Karin Schmid, says there are six herds, in addition to the index herd, which are under movement control for testing in B.C. and Alberta, but locations fall under privacy laws.

"It is likely there will be testing on trace-out and trace-in herds occurring in Alberta in the new year, but that doesn't represent an escalation of the investigation, that's just part of normal tracing and represents how cattle move in the west."

Schmid says, including the Alberta herds in the investigation could be because of bulls which came from breeding herds, or animals which entered Alberta feedlots.

She says, the situation is different from the bovine TB investigation which wrapped up earlier this year.

That case started in September 2016, when a Canadian cow was found with bovine TB in an American slaughter facility, and was traced back to Southern Alberta.

"We don't really know how big the investigation might get in terms of testing," Schmid says. "But I think from the information I have, the production system where that index herd is located is a bit different that what we experienced here."

Schmid doesn't expect to see the scale to population of the many herds tested in the previous investigation.

When the confirmation of the B.C. bovine TB case was announced, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the finding should not affect Canada's current bovine TB free status, which supports international trade for Canada's beef industry.

 

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