Canada: 50 ranches quarantined after bovine tuberculosis found in southeast Alberta

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-cows-quarantined-tb-1.3826662

30 ranches quarantined after bovine tuberculosis found in southeast Alberta
Animal headed for slaughter detected by officials in the U.S.
CBC News Posted: Oct 28, 2016 2:28 PM MT Last Updated: Oct 28, 2016 6:44 PM MT


Thirty ranches in southeast Alberta are under quarantine after a case of bovine tuberculosis was detected in a cow headed to slaughter in the United States, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The CFIA was informed of the case by the United States Food Inspection Agency (USDA) in late September.

The cow was from a ranch near Jenner, Alta., about 100 kilometres north of Medicine Hat.

A CFIA investigation with veterinarians and investigators is underway, and the quarantined ranches are all located in the Buffalo Atlee and Suffield Block community pastures. According to the CFIA website, more ranches may become part of the investigation...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://calgaryherald.com/business/f...losis-found-in-alberta-cattle?__lsa=f478-a402



Five new cases of bovine tuberculosis found in Alberta cattle
Amanda Stephenson, Calgary Herald
Published on: November 18, 2016 | Last Updated: November 18, 2016 7:10 PM MST

Five more cattle in southeast Alberta have tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is in the process of determining whether these new cases will lead to an expansion of an ongoing quarantine that already affects 36 ranches.

Dr. Penny Greenwood, national manager of domestic disease control for the federal agency, said in a media briefing Friday that cases of the contagious bacterial disease now number six in total, including the original case that was discovered when the infected cow went to slaughter in the U.S.

All six cases come from a single herd located near Jenner, Alta., and that herd is in the process of being destroyed...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://blackburnnews.com/agrimedia/agrimedia-news/2016/12/08/cattle-tb-quarantine-hits-fifty-herds/


Cattle TB Quarantine Hits Fifty Herds
By Rodney HiemstraDecember 8, 2016 6:04am

The cattle quarantine for bovine tuberculosis in western Canada continues to grow.

While the confirmed number of TB cases remains at six, the number of herds under quarantine is now at 50.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says all are scheduled for on-farm testing which should be done by early January.

CFIA Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Harpeet Kochar says the latest round of slaughter showed some positive results...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://calgaryherald.com/storyline/...tb-quarantine-brace-for-long-uncertain-winter


'I wake up in the morning and I don't know what I'm going to do': Ranchers under bovine TB quarantine brace for long, uncertain winter
December 31, 2016 9:29 am

Bracing himself against the wind on a cold December day, Jeff Lewandoski leans against a fence post on his property near Jenner and gazes at the handful of animals in his near-empty corral. The 10 bulls are all that remain of the southeast Alberta rancher?s prized herd, after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency deemed the cattle ?high risk? as a result of a bovine tuberculosis outbreak in the area and ordered all of them ? 226 adults and 209 calves ? destroyed.

In the coming days, these last 10 bulls will also be slaughtered ? leaving Lewandoski in the unusual position of owning a ranch with no cattle on it. Facing a long, bleak winter of what amounts to forced unemployment, Lewandoski will have little to do over the coming months except reflect on what he has lost.

?This is all that I know how to do ? I?m a rancher, that?s what I do,? the 30-year veteran of the cattle industry says. ?Now I wake up in the morning and I don?t know what I?m going to do today. I?m lost. I?m out of my normal routine.?

The outbreak that has rocked Lewandoski?s life, and the lives of nearly everyone in Jenner and the surrounding vicinity, started in September when a single case of bovine TB was detected in a cow when it went to slaughter in the U.S. and traced to a ranch near the small community. Since then, five additional cases of the bacterial disease ? all traced to one infected herd ? have been confirmed. As the CFIA works to investigate the source of the outbreak and prevent the disease?s spread, a total of 50 ranches in southeast Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan have been placed under quarantine. Of the 26,000 animals under quarantine, 10,ooo have been ordered destroyed.

The CFIA compensates producers for animals ordered slaughtered as the result of a disease investigation. But for ranchers like Lewandoski, getting a cheque in the mail doesn?t ease the sting. He describes the feeling of being told his entire herd was slated for destruction as akin to ?having someone drop a building on me.?

?I?ve been building this herd for 30 years,? Lewandoski says. ?It has taken years and years of management and culling to get the herd just to where I wanted it . . . You can?t just go out and replace that, buy another cow herd, and expect to get that overnight.?...