A natural resources presentation examining Bovine Tuberculosis in the United States, with an emphasis on the current situation in Minnesota, is scheduled for 3 p.m. May 14 at the Bemidji State University Center for Research and Innovation, an off-campus facility operated by BSU and located at 3801 Bemidji Avenue North.
The Bemidji Area Natural Resources Continuing Education Consortium presentation is open to the public and free of charge. The May presentation date deviates from the Consortium’s usual monthly schedule.
Presenting will be Dr. Sheryl Shaw, an area epidemiology officer with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, St. Paul.
Bovine TB is one of three species of the M. Tuberculosis complex that can cause diseases in humans. Since 1917, the estimated prevalence of infected U.S. cattle has declined from 5 percent to approximately .001 percent. Until 2005, when Bovine Tuberculosis was identified in five northwest Minnesota cattle herds, Minnesota had been designated TB free since 1975. Since then, two more herds were identified as affected with Bovine TB in 2006 and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has also identified Bovine TB in deer harvested from the same area.
Shaw will provide those attending with informational handouts on the topic from the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.
The presentation is designed to be of interest to both beef producers and the general public.
Shaw has been with USDA APHIS Veterinary Services in St. Paul since April 2004 and has played an integral part in the Minnesota TB investigation since May 2005. She worked in food safety as a veterinary medical officer with USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service for three and a half years. Prior to that, she’d practiced veterinary medicine for two years in Montana and nine years in Wisconsin. She graduated from the Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 1989.
The talk is part of an on-going series of Bemidji Area Natural Resources Continuing Education Consortium presentations, usually offered on the third Monday of each month. Groups helping organize the natural resources consortium include the BSU Center for Environmental, Earth and Space Studies; the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; Norbord Minnesota; the Chippewa National Forest; Beltrami County; the Leech Lake Division of Resource Management; Ainsworth; and the Red Lake Reservation.
The CRI was developed by BSU to serve as a conduit between the University, business, industry, non-profits and the general public.
Individuals who wish to be added to a mailing list for the series or have questions should contact the Center for Research and Innovation, Bemidji State University, 1500 Birchmont Dr. NE, Bemidji, MN 56601 (218-755-4900; toll free, 1-888-738-3224) email, cri@bemidjistate.edu.