Deer hunters in SE Indiana face bovine TB testing on deer

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (AP) - Deer hunters in southeastern Indiana are facing stricter deer inspections as the state responds to the discovery of bovine tuberculosis in that region.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says hunters who kill deer in Dearborn County north of State Road 48 between now and Nov. 27 must take them to a DNR check station to be sampled for bovine TB.

The animal disease was detected in August in a wild deer in neighboring Franklin County, marking the first such discovery of the disease in Indiana history.

The deer tissue sampling is mandatory in the affected portion of Dearborn County. The sampling is voluntary for deer taken in Franklin County and Fayette County south of State Road 44, but the DNR strongly encourages deer hunters in those areas to participate.