ARS | Publication request: A SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ON TUBERCULOSIS IN WHITE-TAILED DEER CONDUCTED AT THEUSDA/ARS/NATIONAL ANIMAL DISEASE CENTER

Submitted to: Bovine Tuberculosis in Michigan Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: January 6, 1999
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Research on tuberculosis in white-tailed deer was initiated by the USDA/ARS/National Animal Disease Center (NADC) in 1997 in response to the discovery of tuberculosis in a population of free-ranging, white-tailed deer in a five-county region of northeastern Michigan. Very little information has been published about tuberculosis in white-tailed deer. A better understanding of the transmission and progression of tuberculosis i white-tailed deer is needed to develop improved strategies to control and eliminate the disease. Information about the transmission of M. bovis between deer and other species such as cattle and raccoons also is needed. The following research is being conducted by scientists at the NADC: 1) Development of a model of natural infection of M. bovis in white-tailed deer; 2) Pathogenesis of M. bovis infection in white-tailed deer; 3) Transmission of M. bovis in white-tailed deer; 4) Transmission of M. bovis from white-tailed deer to cattle; 5) Distribution of lesions and shedding of organisms in white-tailed deer naturally infected with M. bovis; 6) Characterization of tuberculosis in raccoons; 7) DNA fingerprinting of M. bovis isolates from animals in northeast Michigan; and 8) Development of vaccines to control and prevent tuberculosis in wildlife.