Bovine TB detected in Tulare County

A Tulare County cow at a rendering plant in the Central Valley tested positive for Bovine Tuberculosis, the California Department of Food and Agriculture reported Friday afternoon.

Officials are working closely with the dairy farmer and a veterinarian to implement control strategies to eradicate the disease.

CDFA spokesperson Jay Van Rein said cows at at least three dairies will be tested for the disease that was last detected in Tulare County in 2003. The last case of Bovine TB in California was detected in San Bernardino County in 2011.

“So far, we just have the one animal. The way these cases go, you go back and trace any animals that it had any contact with,” explained Van Rein.

The diagnosis of TB was made after a suspicious mass was detected in a cow during routine slaughter inspection. CDFA veterinarians, in coordination with their counterparts at the United States Department of Agriculture, began testing herds that may have come into contact with the diagnosed cow, and that work led to the detection of TB in the Tulare County herd. 

See Saturday's print edition of The Recorder for more off the story.