New Research

[Trophy Specialist]

Michigan Outdoor News had an article about TB in Michigan in its last issue. New reasearch reported in the article dispells many of the previous notions about TB, how it's transmitted and much more.

[Tom]

Can you post the article or give a link?

[Trophy Specialist]

The website for Michigan Outdoor News is: http://www.michiganoutdoornews.com/

The do have a few articles from each issue on thier website, but they don't have the article titled "Report Refutes TB Science" on the website. It's in the Jaunuary 11, issue. I guess you'll have to buy the paper to read the story.

The gist of it is that a group of highly respected scientists conducted research and published a paper on TB in whitetails. The report refutes some of the theories and often-repeated official statements considered to be "science" by my TB "experts". The report suggests that infection rates may be much higher than reported due to faulty testing methods. Also, their research found no M.bovis in any feces, rectal, oral or nasal swabs on infected deer, which seriously questions the popular nose-to-nose theory of transmission or the belief that feed piles are contaminated by saliva or nasal secretions. Like wise, their tests never produced any findings of M. Bovis in any feed, water or soil samples from concentrated, pelatized feed and watering sites. This refutes the implication that M. Bovis is spread from feeding practices. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this research and differing conclusions down the road. For political reasons I highly doubt that the DNR, USDA and the Farm Bureau will even acknowledge this science based research and findings.

[ETm]

It is not an article at all. It is only a letter to the Editor so take it for what it's worth.

[Liver and Onions]

OK, which is it ? Actual research or simply a Letter to the Editor ?
L & O

[Stinger]

It's in the letter to the Editor column. ETm is right. Take what's said with a grain of salt.

[boehr]

Trophy Specialist...does this information you read have any scientific based therories on how TB is spread then? Does this "group of highly respected scientists " have names of who they are?

[Trophy Specialist]

Originally posted by Stinger
It's in the letter to the Editor column. ETm is right. Take what's said with a grain of salt.

If you actually look at the Michigan Outdoor newspaper, you will see that the "article" does not appear in the Letter to the Editor column. Earl Fairbanks is the author of the actual "article" in the Commentary section.

In my opinion, the article is poorly written and does not present any theories as to how TB is actually spread, but it does suggest that TB positive deer were related to other infected deer. The article did name Mitchell Palmer, DVM, Ph.D. as one of the researchers. The article states that "Palmer is a Veterinary Medical officer for the USDA, ARS National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa." The article also says that the paper "Naturally Occurring Tuberculosis in White-tailed Deer" was presented at the 2001 Bovine TB Conference in Lansing." The article also mentions Julie Blanchong and her paper titled "Assessing TB Transmission in White-tailed Deer Using Genetic Markers."

I'm going to do a little digging into these papers myself to find out for myself what this is all about.

[boehr]

I can't say who may be right and who may be wrong here because this, even though we (hunters and agencies) have been involved with the TB in deer for years, it is still relatively new in the scientific community. I sure am not a biologist, vet or scientist. I can accept scientific thories based on actual findings as long as far reaching assumptions without merit are not indicated as fact. For an article to say it is suggested that TB deer are related, something as easy as DNA should be able to prove or disprove that. I believe we have numerous possibilities but I see nothing that disproves beyond any doubt that any possibilities give so far can 100% be discounted as of yet.

[Trophy Specialist]

I just read that the author, Earl Fairbanks, of the article published in Michigan Outdoor News, is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine who is retired from the USDA. This would tend to add more credibility to the article.

[Fierkej]

Hi,
I have not seen the Michigan Outdoor News article you are referring too. But I am familiar with Dr. Palmer’s article, Julie’s presentation and have corresponded with Dr. Fairbanks.
Dr. Palmer’s article presented the laboratory results from the TB testing of the TB positive captive deer herd in Presque Isle Co. that was depopulated in 1998-99.
Julie and her team were present at the lab during the fall TB sample collections for 2-3 years prior to last fall, collecting meat tissue from the neck of every deer sampled, about 20,000 samples per year! She is doing DNA fingerprinting using these samples. Her presentations in 2000 and 2001 at the TB Conference related preliminary results from this study.
When I get back to work tomorrow (yes, it’s a state holiday today), I will see if I can post information about the two research projects. I will also see if Dr. O’Brien has time to comment.
And I will email Dr. Fairbanks and see if he would like to get in on this discussion, I'm sure he would love to!
Jean

[Snoopy]

I checked the online research databases for articles about Bovine TB research. The are entire Journals dedicated to the subject. There were over 1100 hits dating back to 1963. The database extends to 1963 and does not cover all Journals but does cover many foreign ones. What becomes apparent is that countries like New Zealand, Australia, England, Russia etc have been actively working on the problem whereas Thanks to the Farm Bureau we have had our heads in the sand for years by declaring TB free status. Many of the articles link opposums, badgers, and a host of other critters with the spread of TB and by golly the cattle themselves. With the current theory of eradication for carriers we would have to eliminate every animal in the woods. Thank you Farm Bureau for ignoring the problem.

[Fierkej]

Hi,
Here are some of the abstracts so you can read the research for yourselves.


SURVIVAL OF MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS ON FEEDS
Diana L. Whipple and Mitchell V. Palmer
Free-ranging white-tailed deer in northeast Michigan are recognized as a wildlife reservoir of tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis. Generally, animals become infected with M. bovis by inhalation of aerosolized organisms or by ingestion of organisms that are present in feed and water. Mycobacterium bovis has been isolated from saliva, nasal secretions, and tonsilar swab samples of experimentally infected white-tailed deer. Therefore, it is possible for infected deer to shed organisms in oral secretions and contaminate feed and water, which would then serve as a source of infection for other animals. Baiting of deer, which is allowed in Michigan, creates a situation where several deer eat from the same pile of feed and may contribute to transmission of tuberculosis.
The purpose of this study was to determine how long M. bovis survives on various feeds when stored at different temperatures. The feeds examined were alfalfa hay, shelled corn, sugar beets, apples, carrots, and potatoes. Feeds were held at 75 degrees F, 46 degrees F, and 0 degrees F for 2 hours, 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 7 days, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and 16 weeks.
Mycobacterium bovis was isolated from all feeds stored at all temperatures for 7 days. At 46 degrees F, M. bovis survives on all feeds except carrots for at least 12 weeks and at 0 degrees F, it survives on all feeds for at least 12 weeks. This study is ongoing and results from samples processed at 16 weeks are pending. Other experiments will be conducted to further examine the role of baiting in transmission of tuberculosis.

TRANSMISSION OF MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS FROM EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED WHITE-TAILED DEER TO CATTLE THROUGH INDIRECT CONTACT
Diana L. Whipple and Mitchell V. Palmer
Mycobacterium bovis has been isolated from herds of cattle in northeast Michigan where there is a wildlife reservoir of disease in free-ranging white-tailed deer. Results of DNA fingerprinting indicate that the deer and cattle are infected with the same strain of M. bovis. The purpose of this study was to determine if cattle can become infected with M. bovis through indirect contact with experimentally infected white-tailed deer.
Three groups of four deer were inoculated with 7 x 105 M. bovis by instillation of the organisms into the crypt of the palatine tonsil. After two weeks, pens where the deer were housed were topically disinfected and three groups of three 6-month old calves were introduced into the barn. Each group of deer was paired with a group of calves. Deer were given excess feed and hay and allowed access to it for several hours. The deer were then moved to a holding pen and the calves were moved to the pen that had been occupied by the deer without cleaning the pen. The calf pens were cleaned and the deer were then moved to the clean pens. This process was repeated daily for 80 days.
All of the deer were euthanized by day 91 of the experiment and all had extensive lesions of tuberculosis. On day 77, all of the calves were skin tested using the comparative cervical skin test and were classified as reactors. Results of the interferon gamma assay were positive for three of the calves on day 28 and were positive for all nine calves on day 56. Calves were necropsied beginning on day 177 and examined for lesions of tuberculosis. Gross and microscopic lesions were observed in, and M. bovis was isolated from, all calves. All calves had lesions in the lung or associated lymph nodes. One calf had lesions in the medial retropharyngeal lymph node.
Results of this study show that calves can become infected with M. bovis through indirect contact with experimentally infected white-tailed deer. Additional studies will be conducted to determine if cattle can become infected through contact with only the feed that has been offered to experimentally infected deer. We also plan to determine the minimum infectious dose needed for infection of calves by the oral route.

DEER TO DEER TRANSMISSION OF MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS
MITCHELL V. PALMER, DIANA L. WHIPPLE
Information is lacking on the pathogenesis and transmissibility of M. bovis infection in white-tailed deer. In order to determine the efficiency with which deer transmit tuberculosis to each other, and the routes by which such transmission occurs, we exposed non-inoculated deer to experimentally inoculated deer. Eight deer were experimentally inoculated by intratonsilar instillation of 2x108 CFU of M. bovis. Eight non-inoculated deer were introduced 21 days after inoculation. Deer were housed in pens 150 ft2 in size such that 2 in-contact deer were penned with 2 experimentally inoculated deer. Each pen had a single source of water, hay, and pelleted feed. Sixty-nine days after introduction, all in-contact deer developed delayed type hypersensitivity reactions to M. bovis PPD as determined by the comparative cervical test. One-hundred twenty days after inoculation all experimentally inoculated deer were removed. One-hundred fifty nine days after introduction, 4 in-contact deer were euthanized and examined and 4 new non-inoculated deer were housed with the remaining original in-contact deer such that 4 new in-contact deer were housed with 4 original in-contact deer. One-hundred days after introduction, all new in-contact deer had developed delayed type hypersensitivity to M. bovis PPD.
At 180 days after introduction of new in-contact deer all deer were euthanized and examined. All in-contact exposed deer developed tuberculosis. Lesions were most commonly seen in the lung, tracheobronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes. Experimentally inoculated deer were shown to shed
M. bovis in nasal secretions, saliva, feces, and urine. In-contact infected deer also shed M. bovis in nasal secretions and saliva. Hay and pelleted feed were found to contain M. bovis at multiple times throughout the experiment.
This study shows that tuberculous deer efficiently transmit M. bovis to other deer in close contact. Lesion distribution in in-contact exposed deer suggests aerosol transmission as a likely means of infection, however, contamination of shared feed must also be considered. Body fluids containing Mycobacterium bovis may become aerosolized or directly contaminate feed, both of which may be sources of infection for other susceptible hosts.


TRANSMISSION OF MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS FROM EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED WHITE-TAILED DEER TO CATTLE THROUGH INDIRECT CONTACT.
Diana L. Whipple and Mitchell V. Palmer
Mycobacterium bovis has been isolated from herds of cattle in northeast Michigan where there is a wildlife reservoir of disease in free-ranging white-tailed deer. Results of DNA fingerprinting indicate that the deer and cattle are infected with the same strain of M. bovis. The purpose of this study was to determine if cattle can become infected with M. bovis through indirect contact with experimentally infected white-tailed deer. Three groups of four deer were inoculated with 7 x 105 M. bovis by instillation of the organisms into the crypt of the palatine tonsil. After two weeks, pens where the deer were housed were topically disinfected and three groups of three six-month old calves were introduced into the barn. Each group of deer was paired with a group of calves. Deer were given excess feed and hay and allowed access to it for several hours. The deer were then moved to a holding pen and the calves were moved to the pen that had been occupied by the deer without cleaning the pen. The calf pens were cleaned and the deer were then moved to the clean pens. This process was repeated daily for 80 days. All of the deer were euthanized by day 91 of the experiment and all had extensive lesions of tuberculosis. On day 77, all of the calves were skin tested using the comparative cervical skin test and were classified as reactors. Results of the interferon gamma assay were positive for three of the calves on day 28 and were positive for all nine calves on day 56. Calves were necropsied beginning on day 177 and examined for lesions of tuberculosis. Gross and microscopic lesions were observed in and M. bovis was isolated from all calves. All calves had lesions in the lung or associated lymph nodes. One calf had lesions in the medial retropharyngeal lymph node. Results of this study show that calves can become infected with M. bovis through indirect contact with experimentally infected white-tailed deer. Additional studies will be conducted to determine if cattle can become infected through contact with only the feed that has been offered to experimentally infected deer. We also plan to determine the minimum infectious dose needed for infection of calves by the oral route.


Here are links to more abstracts:

SUSCEPTIBILITY OF RACCOONS (PROCYON LOTOR) TO INFECTION WITH MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS
http://www.nal.usda.gov/ttic/tektran/data/000012/21/0000122103.html

CELL MEDIATED AND HUMORAL IMMUNE RESPONSES OF WHITE-TAILED DEER (ODOCOILEUS VIRGINIANUS) EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED WITH MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS
http://www.nal.usda.gov/ttic/tektran/data/000009/55/0000095526.html

NATURALLY OCCURRING TUBERCULOSIS IN WHITE-TAILED DEER
http://www.nal.usda.gov/ttic/tektran/data/000010/49/0000104964.html

DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL OF NATURAL INFECTION WITH MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS IN WHITE-TAILED DEER (ODOCOILEUS VIRGINIANUS)
http://www.nal.usda.gov/ttic/tektran/data/000009/16/0000091617.html

EXPERIMENTAL DEER TO DEER TRANSMISSION OF MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS
http://www.nal.usda.gov/ttic/tektran/data/000011/19/0000111934.html

[Fierkej]

Hello,
The following is an emailed response from Dr. Fairbanks:

Dr. Earl Fairbanks - email: sadocf1@i2k.net
Permission granted to post my name and e-mail
Response-The highly respected Scientists are veterinarians, may posess other
degrees in epidemiology, bacteriology,and microbiology, and most are
federally employed by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Veterinary Services, or the USDA Animal Research Service and are involved
with the Bovine TB Eradication Program, doing laboratory testing and
research at the National Animal Diagnostic Lab at Ames, Iowa, plus cattle
testing and some field research.Results obtained by controlled laboratory
experiments may not hold true under actual field conditions. Official
releases to the media by Program Spin Doctors accentuate the positive, deer
become infected by congregating around bait or feed piles, "nose to nose'' ,
"ingesting contaminated feed'' We should give some consideration to the fact
that the Program Spin Doctors are Political Appointees, and have no training
or experience with animal disease.A fawn spends its first year with its
mother and/or the family group, the old doe, her fawns, her daughters and
their fawns.They lick and smell, nose to nose is a normal form of greeting.
A well fed healthy animal is more resistant to infection. Cedar swamps in
northern Michigan were browsed out 50 year ago as high as a deer could reach
standing on its hind legs. The "Science'' of the Bovine TB Eradication
Program is based largely on "Assumptions'' T he USDA and the Michigan
Department of Agriculture, in their infinite wisdom, have agreed to ignore
the existence of M.bovis infection in Michigan deer, as part of their "hurry
up'' Program to "eradicate'' Bovine TB from the United States by December
31, 2003. No other country has had much luck eradicating M. bovis from
wildlife. My opinions are based on the facts that I have spent over 70 years
hunting and observing deer in northern Michigan and 26 years testing cattle
in lower Michigan with the TB Eradication Program
Dr. Earl Fairbanks - email: sadocf1@i2k.net

[Joe Archer]

Finally, someone who has the same concerns as I do!
Thank you for the post. It would be nice to see a formal debate between Drs. Obrien and Fairbanks. <----<<<

[marty]

Interesting stuff. Would make a helluva campfire wouldn't it??
........marty:D :D

[Snoopy]

Dr. Fairbanks,

Thank you for your "down to earth" analysis of the problem. I agree totally. I have spent some time looking at the +1100 abstracts on the subject and have come across many good studies from Rose Lake and such. I can also see that efforts to control TB in the wild, world wide haven't worked. The only effective way it seems to prevent TB in cattle is vaccines. Your right Michigan seems to want to put TB in a tidy package and hide it. To avoid vaccinating, the Farm Bureau wants to point fingers at the deer herd and have them eradicated. If we ban baiting they get their TB free status back and their problem is solved but only on paper.

Unfortunately this "solution" has a great deal of backlash. The anti-baiting crowd gets a big thumbs down for joining these groups and using this issue to promote their personal agenda. They are no different than the anti-gun crowd using Columbine to get more gun laws passed. When one group of hunters loose we all loose.

A Healthy deer population is the key and different areas are going to require different solutions. Baiting may be OK in some areas and not others. Food plots draw in deer to small areas just like bait piles, farm fields also bring them in. You also can't stop the deer from yarding in the winter or their socialization rituals. Targeting the right animals for a healthy herd is also the key. It's a very complex problem