In the meantime, Department of Natural Resources officials are testing deer, raccoon, fox, coyotes and other small animals in the immediate area for the disease because the elk farm's outside fence had holes large enough for wild deer to enter and escape through. It's intended as a precaution and so that people can hunt with confidence in the area. The department did the testing as a precautionary measure when TB was reported in some free-ranging deer in Michigan. DNR staff will bait and shoot deer, and trap small animals, within two miles of the elk farm. If animals had moved in an out of the farm's enclosure, they likely would not have strayed far from the dependable food source the farm represents.
Bovine tuberculosis is one of a family of bacteria that causes tuberculosis.
The disease is contagious to many animals and humans, and causes symptoms ranging from fevers to loss of appetite, to serious breathing difficulty. Transmissions from cattle to humans are relatively rare and would require intense contact between the human and infected animal or its carcass, Hurley said. The feeding contributed to deer densities of up to 150 deer per square mile, nearly five times that in most Wisconsin counties, said Tom Solin, DNR Chief of Special Operations. In the meantime, Hurley advises that people who will be hunting in the area southwest of Manitowoc wear rubber gloves when they field dress deer. If a hunter finds suspicious lesions in a carcass , Hurley advises that he or she save the internal organs and bring them to a DNR registration station for evaluation.