Bovine tuberculosis cases found in Saskatchewan

Canadian officials have found more bovine tuberculosis cases in Saskatchewan.

In a notice to industry Feb. 25, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said they have found three more cases while testing the birth herd of an animal confirmed positive for bovine TB late last year.

The herd in question will be euthanized, the producer compensated as per CFIA regulations and tests will be done on all animals over a year old to determine how significantly infection had spread in the herd, the agency said.

Where were the cases found?

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On Nov. 29, 2024, the CFIA confirmed bovine tuberculosis in samples from a six-year-old cow after the animal had been sent for slaughter in Alberta. The animal had been raised in Saskatchewan, the agency said. The birth herd was put in quarantine as tests were done and contact tracing began for other possibly exposed herds.

It was Saskatchewan’s second brush with bovine TB in recent years. In February 2023, Canadian officials got word from the United States Department of Agriculture that tests from an animal shipped from Saskatchewan the previous fall had come back positive. In June 2023, the CFIA confirmed two further cases in the Saskatchewan herd where the flagged animal had originated.

More herds to be tested

All of the three recently identified cases were born outside of their current herd, the agency said. The investigation and “applicable movement controls” has expanded to include the originating herds of those animals.

Any herds that have been in contact with the infected herd are up for testing, the CFIA said. Contact tracing will also cover any animals that left the herd in the last five years, as well as any herds that provided animals to the farm in the last five years. Testing will be done as needed.

The strain of bovine TB has also garnered attention. Lab testing of the case found in November 2024 “found a strain that has never been identified in animals or humans in Canada, and the origin of the strain is unknown. It is not closely related to any of the recent strains in Western Canada,” the Feb. 25 notice read.