What is TB in Cattle?

Bovine tuberculosis (TB), is an incurable contagious disease of cattle that can be difficult to detect since animals may not show symptoms until the disease is in an advanced stage.

  1. History

    • In the early 1900s, TB was the most common infectious disease found in U.S. cattle and caused more livestock losses than all other contagious diseases combined.

    Symptoms

    • Cattle do not show clinical signs of the disease during early stages. However, as TB advances, it may cause lymph node enlargement, low-grade fever, weight loss, weakness and pneumonia symptoms. It can be fatal.

    Treatment

    • Because TB can be transmitted to other animals and humans, and is considered incurable, positively tested herds pose a public health threat and are destroyed.

    Eradication Program

    • Begun in 1917, the nation's livestock TB eradication program is operated through a partnership of the United States Department of Agriculture and state animal health officials working in cooperation with producers to test for the disease and keep it from being transmitted.

    Prevention

    • Because wildlife can transmit TB to cattle and the disease is more difficult to control in the wild, farmers should avoid exposing herds to deer and other wildlife.