Sask. Cattle Association looking to curb bovine tuberculosis

After an investigation from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) began in December, it’s been determined that a farm in southeast Saskatchewan was home to four cattle that had been infected with bovine tuberculosis, and a number of organizations are working together to curb the spread of the disease.

A coordinated effort from the Saskatchewan Cattle Association (SCA), the CFIA, and the Ministry of Agriculture have been working together to help monitor the affected animals and any others they may have come in contact with.

Christine Strube is the board member for the SCA representing District 9 out of Shellbrook, as well as a cattle producer on her own farm. She said that because of the nature of how tuberculosis spreads and how hard it is to detect, the first thing everyone is working on together is to track the animals.

“The important thing to remember, of course, is that producers have detailed records of their animal movement, which we call traceability. Though animal movement records are really important, making sure that your premises ID number is registered and updated. Producers should have their contact history, so if your cattle are grazing in community pastures or share fence lines, you want to have a good record of that and you want to make sure that your CCIA (Canadian Cattle Identification Agency) tags are current and up to date.”