Appropriately, USDA considers farmed cervidae to be livestock and many states have or are about to classify them as livestock, recognizing the need to treat all hoofstock raised for food and fiber in a comprehensive and consistent manner for disease control.
Inspection remains one of the most effective means of eradicating bovine tuberculosis.
It is expected that more nontraditional hoofstock owners would join the voluntary inspection program if it were offered on the same basis as it is for amenable species.