Indiana euthanizes 15 cattle with bovine tuberculosis

INDIANAPOLIS — State animal health officials say 15 beef cattle have been euthanized in southeastern Indiana after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis.

The State Board of Animal Health said Friday it recently completed its bovine tuberculosis testing campaign for all livestock herds linked to a herd in Dearborn County where one cow was found during slaughter in December to have the disease.

That cow was Indiana’s first such case of the disease in more than three decades. Tuberculosis causes severe coughing, fatigue, emaciation and debilitation in cattle.

All 15 of the cattle that tested positive for tuberculosis were associated with the herd the infected cow came from.

Forty-seven free-ranging deer near the herd were also tested but none tested positive for the illness. Testing will continue during the fall deer hunting season.