Bovine TB detected in ninth beef herd in Minnesota

At risk?
State animal health officials announced Tuesday that a cattle herd in Roseau County had test positive for bovine tuberculosis.
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The Minnesota Board of Animal Health said Tuesday that a beef cattle herd in Roseau County has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis.

The herd is the ninth in Minnesota where the disease has been confirmed. All cases have been in northwestern Minnesota.

The board said the U.S. Department of Agriculture is appraising the herd so it can be purchased and the animals killed.

The state has been working to regain a TB-free status. The board said about 347,000 TB tests have been performed since the disease was discovered in Minnesota in July 2005. Before that, Minnesota had been free of the cattle disease since 1971.

Without the TB-free designation, it costs ranchers about $10 for additional testing for every animal they ship out of state.

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