Indiana Wildlife Disease News, Volume 4, Issue 2 â•fi May 2009

a very rare disease in wild deer. Prior to 1994, only eight wild white-tailed and mule deer had been reported with bovine TB in North America. In 1994, a hunter in southwestern Alpena County, Michigan, shot a 4-year old male white-tailed deer infected with bovine TB. The Description Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious disease caused when bacteria attack the respiratory system. There are three types of TB-human, avian, and bovine. Human TB is rarely transmitted to non-humans, avian TB is typically restricted to birds (pigs and occasionally other animals have been found to be susceptible), and bovine TB-or cattle TB-is the most infectious, capable of infecting most mammals. Bovine TB is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) which is part of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. INDIANAPOLIS (15 May 2009)—The Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) is investigating a case of bovine tuberculosis (commonly called " TB, " or more formally known as Myco-bacterium bovis) in a farm-raised cervid herd in Southeastern Indiana. " Cervid " is a category of animals that includes elk and various species of deer. A BOAH veterinarian found the TB infection in a red deer being processed for meat. A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) laboratory test confirmed the disease. The animals in the cervid herd, which include elk, red deer,