The state's war against bovine tuberculosis is refocusing on a four-county area that appears to be the source of the problem.
Tests continue on cattle farms across Michigan.
But it is increasingly apparent that the deadly lung disease is confined almost entirely within the northeastern Lower Peninsula, said Bob Bender, coordinator of the eradication program. Nothing's turning up anywhere else. Bender announced last week that bovine TB had been confirmed within two beef cattle operations in Alpena County, boosting the number of tainted farms to 15. Nearly 30 infected cows have been found, and about 1,500 have been destroyed to prevent the illness from spreading. Meanwhile, the disease has been found in 340 deer, which farmers suspect of transmitting it to cattle.