October 17, 2000

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman Monday signed a declaration of emergency, authorizing the transfer of $44 million this year to expand the bovine tuberculosis eradication program in the United States. This is an initial payment on what is expected to be a multi-year effort. Glickman said the spread of the disease in this country could compromise international and domestic trade of U.S. animals and animal products and threaten producers with losses and consumers with price increases.

Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic and debilitating disease that primarily affects cattle, bison, and cervine species, which include elk and deer. Recent scientific tests have identified a significant bovine tuberculosis threat from infected wildlife, especially free-ranging deer, which in turn, transmit the disease to nearby cattle.

In Michigan, eight herds of cattle were infected with tuberculosis and the U.S. cattle population is being threatened by recurring infections of dairy herds in Texas along the U.S.-Mexican border. USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will expand the bovine tuberculosis eradication program by surveying for bovine tuberculosis in U.S. wildlife and zoos; improving federal diagnostics capabilities and national surveillance for the disease; making indemnity payments to farmers for the depopulation of infected and high-risk herds and establishing identification requirements for animals imported into the United States for feeding and slaughter.

This emergency declaration is effective immediately and is available on the web at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.