BISMARCK - No sign of bovine tuberculosis has been found in the first round of testing a herd of cattle from southwestern North Dakota. All 28 samples submitted for culture tested negative for the disease.
The tests, conducted by the National Veterinary Service Laboratory at Ames, IA, were ordered after a cow from the herd was found to have a TB lesion during a routine inspection at a meat processing plant in Long Prairie, Minn., late last year.
"This is very good news," said Dr. Susan Keller, North Dakota state veterinarian. "If the second round of tests comes back negative for TB, we can lift the movement restrictions imposed by a quarantine on the herd."
Keller said final results of the second herd test should be available in eight to ten weeks.
She also said testing of four neighboring herds is now underway, but that weather conditions and calving will delay completion of these tests until later this spring.
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North Dakota has been declared tuberculosis-free since 1976.
