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June 21, 2002
Game-farm elk tests positive for bovine tuberculosis
The Associated Press
An elk on a Manitowoc County game farm has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, the first such finding in Wisconsin in three years.
Authorities who made the announcement Wednesday emphasized there is no link between bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease, or mad deer disease, which has been found in wild deer in the Mount Horeb area in southwestern Wisconsin.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection while chronic wasting disease is caused by an abnormal protein, or prion, that attacks the brain of elk or deer, said Wesley Ramage, vice president of the Wisconsin Commercial Deer & Elk Farmers Association.
“The good news to this is that we test for both diseases, it was discovered, and we are doing something about it,” Ramage said.
The case of bovine tuberculosis caused animal health officials to begin examining nearby farms that raise cattle or goats — two other species that can get the disease, which also can be transmitted to humans.
Wisconsin’s last case of bovine tuberculosis in elk occurred in 1999. The last case in cattle happened in Shawano County in 1995.
The name of the elk farmer was not released Wednesday because the case is still under investigation, Gilson said.
One focus of the investigation is why four elk herds within a six-mile radius have tested positive for the disease since 1997.
The infected elk on the Manitowoc County farm was killed.
The farm has been under quarantine since mid-April when a preliminary test showed the animal had the disease. A follow-up was negative and then a longer, more accurate test revealed Monday that the elk had TB.
Game-farm elk tests positive for bovine tuberculosis
The Associated Press
An elk on a Manitowoc County game farm has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, the first such finding in Wisconsin in three years.
Authorities who made the announcement Wednesday emphasized there is no link between bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease, or mad deer disease, which has been found in wild deer in the Mount Horeb area in southwestern Wisconsin.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection while chronic wasting disease is caused by an abnormal protein, or prion, that attacks the brain of elk or deer, said Wesley Ramage, vice president of the Wisconsin Commercial Deer & Elk Farmers Association.
“The good news to this is that we test for both diseases, it was discovered, and we are doing something about it,” Ramage said.
The case of bovine tuberculosis caused animal health officials to begin examining nearby farms that raise cattle or goats — two other species that can get the disease, which also can be transmitted to humans.
Wisconsin’s last case of bovine tuberculosis in elk occurred in 1999. The last case in cattle happened in Shawano County in 1995.
The name of the elk farmer was not released Wednesday because the case is still under investigation, Gilson said.
One focus of the investigation is why four elk herds within a six-mile radius have tested positive for the disease since 1997.
The infected elk on the Manitowoc County farm was killed.
The farm has been under quarantine since mid-April when a preliminary test showed the animal had the disease. A follow-up was negative and then a longer, more accurate test revealed Monday that the elk had TB.
