A doe shot in Benzie County during the firearms deer season could have a major impact not only on the nearby deer herd, but also on cattle farmers.
A routine autopsy performed on the deer found bovine tuberculosis (bTB), which is likely to prompt a responses from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Michigan Department of Natural Resources to prevent the disease from spreading.
Roger Noonan, proprietor of the Noonan and Sons ranch in Kasson Township, hopes the diagnosis won’t have a major impact on the 150-head herd being raised by him and sons Casey and Ryan.
“One time we had to test some cattle (because of a TB outbreak elsewhere), but that was a good 25 years ago. Our cattle are all confined, so I don’t think we would have to. You don’t want that at all, and it cost a lot of money,” Noonan said.
He had not been contacted by the state and he had not heard about the Benzie TB-infected deer when reached by a reporter with the Leelanau Enterprise.
The state of Michigan and cattle farmers in the northeastern part of the Lower Peninsula have been coping with the disease since it was affirmed in a deer tested in 1975. By the time a second deer tested positive in 1994, bTB was well established and would soon be found in nearby cattle herds.
State-mandated testing in herds in a four-county hot zone consisting of Montmorency, Alpena, Ogemaw and Alcona as well as periodical tests in surrounding counties were thought to have confined the disease to one area of Michigan until the TB deer turned up on agricultural land in rural Joyfield Township, which has a population of 763 according to the 2020 census.
District wildlife biologist Steve Griffith said he was not surprised that a diseased deer turned up in testing. However, the more likely scenario was to find a deer with chronic wasting disease, which has been confi rmed in 13 counties including Isabella and thought to be spreading quicker than bTB. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources offered deer testing through much of the northwest Lower Peninsula, including Benzie and Leelanau counties, as part of its campaign to find and control CWD.
“”We do not, to my understanding, have any CWD in my working area. CWD was more on the move than TB. Hopefully, we can keep them both captained,” Griffith said.
Both diseases are transferred through close contact with fellow herd animals and their food sources. CWD is spread through “protein infectious particles” (Prions) that can remain alive for years in soil. While the bacteria that causes bTB can survive for weeks or even months in cold, dark conditions, it has a much shorter lifespan outside of hosts.
Bovine TB can spread freely between cows and deer, which has caused cattle operations in hot zones to erect tall fences to keep cervids from bovine feed lots. It can also be contracted by humans. Five workers at the state’s Wildlife Disease Laboratory were diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2019 when the state was struggling to keep up with testing for CWD in deer. All workers survived following antibiotic treatment, according to a story in Bridge Magazine.
“Tuberculosis is a very serious issue, especially for the cattle and dairy industries, and it is a human health concern,” Griffith said. “If at all possible, we can eliminate it. It may be possible for us to get on the ball quickly and nip it at the bud.”
Such a solution is possible. The disease was found in cattle and wild deer in northwestern Minnesota in 2005, but was eliminated by an aggressive program to eliminate all wild deer in the area, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The area was declared TB free in 2012.
Emily Sewell, MDNR biologist handling TB eradication in Michigan, said information is still being gathered. “At this time there are no proposed changes in regulations,” she wrote in an email reply to an Enterprise query.
Casey Noonan, whose livelihood is based on his family cattle herd, was apprehensive.
“I’m sure it’s going to have some effect. I am a little nervous, even from a deer hunter’s standpoint.
“As a farmer, it’s a little scary,” he said.
