Status of the State and Federal Cooperative Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Program, Fiscal Year 2009

摘要

The cooperative State-Federal-industry effort to eradicate bovine tuberculosis (TB) from the United States has made significant progress, markedly decreasing the prevalence of the disease. However, the goal of eradication remains elusive as animal health officials continue to detect TB sporadically in U.S. livestock herds. Several challenges continue to hinder our efforts to eradicate the disease: Infected cattle Imported from other countries; Infected wildlife as a reservoir; Changes in the dairy and beef cattle industries; The limitations of available diagnostic tests; Inability to trace some infected animals identified at slaughter to a herd; Outdated regulations; Antiquated approaches to disease control; Flat or decreasing Federal budgets.