Another herd found infected with bovine TB

(AP) - Bovine tuberculosis has been found in a seventh beef cattle herd in Roseau and Beltrami counties of northwestern Minnesota, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health said Tuesday.

The newest case was found in one cow from a farm in Beltrami County, the board said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is working out the details of destroying the animals in the newest herd and compensating the owner. While officials are tracking the movement of animals in and out of the operation, the board said the herd is small and has had minimal movement.

The case turned up as part of a program that calls for testing all herds within 10 miles of an infected beef herd or an infected white-tail deer.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources plans to collect 5,000 samples from deer taken by hunters this fall for bovine TB testing. In the past 12 months, two white-tail deer have tested positive within a mile of an infected cattle herd.

Minnesota can't apply for accreditation as TB free until two years after its last infected herd is eliminated. Before the current outbreak was detected in July 2005, the state had been free of the cattle disease since 1971.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)