An outbreak of bovine tuberculosis is forcing some Alpena County farmers to make a tough decision.

This is the most recent outbreak of the deadly lung disease, following a series of sixteen other infected herds.

John Molesworth, a veterinarian and district extension livestock agent for MSU Extension in Alpena County, said it is a heavy issue in the county.

Molesworth said when a farmer finds traces of the disease in his cattle he has few choices of what to do.

“They have two choices, they can either depopulate, which means kill them all and the state will pay them or they can test out of it,” he said.

Alpena is one of four counties considered a high risk area of northeast lower Michigan for tuberculosis. Alcona, Montmorency and Presque Isle counties are also at high risk.

The disease has also been found in white tail deer, a factor that has led to the continued spread of the disease.

Since the spring of 1995, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture have tested more than 100,000 livestock and more than 12,000 privately owned deer and elk for TB.

The state is working to regain the accreditation of being free of bovine TB, which it lost in June of 2000.

“The whole state has lost free movement and that is kind of important,” Molesworth said.

Owners of infected beef and dairy herds don’t have the opportunities to do business on a national level or even with other states, he said.

“It really puts a bite in his marketing abilities,” Molesworth said.

Christopher Wolf, assistant professor of agriculture economics, said losing the accreditation has hurt more than just the farmers.

“When you aggregate it across 3,000 beef farmers it ends up being a big cost and it is also a big taxpayer cost because they pay for the testing,” he said.

Along with the money lost from the disease, hunters and farmers have been unable to find common ground on the issue.

“You have a lot of finger pointing, you have farmers who wish there were a lot less deer and hunters who wish there were a lot less farmers,” he said.

The disease could also affect businesses in lucrative hunting areas. Wolf said hotels and restaurants in areas that are frequented by hunters might loose their business because of the disease.

But Dr. Scott Fitzgerald, an associate professor of pathology and diagnostic investigations, said there is some hope.

“The problem is that it is out in the deer and as long as it is in the deer it will be in the cattle,” he said. “But the numbers of infected deer are down, we are making progress.”

Animals suspected of being infected are brought to MSU for testing. Fitzgerald said in the past they have had a truckload of suspects at least five days a week.

“Every few months we come up with a positive animal,” he said.

Fitzgerald said while no studies have been done at MSU on how the disease spreads, it is thought to be airborne.

“As far as cow-to-cow transmission, it has only been one or two animals in a herd of 220,” he said.