Jackson, Mich. - A disease that threatens northern Michigan cattle herds may have spread south.
State officials say a cow on a Jackson County farm that was tested in the field has been labeled "suspect" for bovine tuberculosis.
The cow has been destroyed and its tissue is scheduled for testing at a government lab in Iowa. The lab will determine whether in fact the animal was infected.
Bovine TB is a lung disease among white-tailed deer. State officials have been trying for years to prevent it from infecting livestock and ruining the state's $121 million-a-year cattle industry. More than 9,300 head have been tested so far.
This year, for the first time, one cow tested positive. The cow and all others in an Alpena County beef herd were destroyed last month. The government paid the farmer $15,400 for the loss.
The single infected cow prompted several states including Wisconsin and California to place restrictions on cattle imported from Michigan. If more cows are found to be infected, the state could lose its "bovine tuberculosis-free" status, costing farmers millions of dollars.
The "suspect" cow was tested after it and the other 239 cows on the Jackson County farm were linked to the infected herd in Alpena as part of an elaborate tracing program. Three state agencies are involved in the testing and tracing.
Until now officials thought bovine TB was confined to five counties in the northeast lower peninsula.
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