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That was the question Dr. John Tilden, TB Eradication Coordinator for the Michigan Department of Agriculture posed to the over 200 people in attendance at a meeting on the subject held Wednesday at the ZCBJ Hall in Owosso.

Officials from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) urged all Michigan residents to play their part in helping to keep Michigan a TB free state at the informational session hosted by the Shiawassee County Farm Bureau along with the Michigan Farm Bureau.

Filled with a lot of "what ifs," the meeting came as a result of a potentially Bovine Tuberculosis infected deer being shot in Shiawassee County.

"At this point we do not know that this deer is positive," stated Dr. Tilden.

"If it comes back negative further testing will not be necessary, but if it does come back positive we are all going to have to roll up our sleeves and work together to rid our state of this disease."

Because of the costly consequences and the enormous effect TB can have on the agriculture industry and on the entire state, government officials and industry experts spoke to the gathering and fielded questions in an attempt to get straight answers and correct information on this potentionally serious situation to the public, and to urge all Michigan residents to have a hand in control of the disease statewide.

Tilden noted that even if the deer is found to be positive it is possible that it is an isolated incident and that it could have migrated into the area from somewhere else.

"The only way to be sure is to test animals in the area," he stated.

The yearling doe was shot the weekend before New Years in Shiawassee County's Bennington Township during the antlerless season.

The suspect deer was examined in January at Michigan State University and is currently undergoing testing to determine TB status.

Officials expect results of that testing sometime around the end of February or the first part of March.

If confirmed to be positive, further tests will be run to determine what strand of TB the deer is infected with and all livestock within a ten-mile radius of where the animal was taken will be tested. And if confirmed positive, it will be the furthest south the disease has been found in Michigan.

Tilden noted that, in the worst case scenario, if animals within the ten-mile radius are found to be infected with the disease the testing circle would then widen.

Dan O'Brien, Wildlife Veterinarian from the Department of Natural Resources noted that regardless of how the results come out, it is very important that all state residents help to fight this disease at all times.

"We absolutely do not encourage the feeding of deer," he stated.

"We know from decades of experience fighting this disease that bating and supplemental feeding that draw deer into close contact with each other is part of how this disease established itself in Michigan in the first place."

Bovine Tuberculosis is spread through nose-to-nose contact, along with the sharing of feed and water, amongst both wildlife and livestock. Feed can remain contaminated with the TB organism for extended periods of time. Bovine TB has been cultured from feed and there is evidence that it can be transmitted to cattle and deer from hay, carrots, sugar beets, corn, and apples. Experiments have shown the bacteria can live in a cold, dark, damp, environment on feeds for up to twelve weeks.

To reduce the consequences producers and residents alike are urged to implement measures that mitigate the risks of transmission of the disease. Implementation of Wildlife Risk Mitigation measures is an important tool to protect individual farms and is a critical step for the cattle industry in advancing the TB status in Michigan.

Risk Mitigation techniques include not bating or feeding deer, along with not conducting any other practices that herd deer and cause them to come into close contact with one another or with livestock.

For livestock producers, risk mitigation includes following precautions to exclude deer and elk form access to leftover feed, using disease control permits issued by the DNR to remove and deter deer from the vicinity of livestock and its feed, and making land available to hunters to reduce deer numbers.

"TB is an issue that takes hunters, agriculture, and all residents working together to keep under control and all residents need to follow the Wildlife Risk Mitigation steps to do their part to keep Michigan TB free," stated O'Brien.

"It is very important that agriculture producers, hunters, and residents come together to cut this disease off."

Matt Ankney, Bovine TB Eradication Project Coordinator for the Department of Community Health, noted that the risk to humans is minimal. Contact with an infected deer is a risk only if there are breaks in the skin while field dressing the animal and venison that is properly cooked will not transmit the disease.

More information on risk to humans and how to spot the signs of TB in deer visit www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases For information beef and dairy cattle farmers can call the following agencies; the USDA Wildlife Services Lansing office at 517-336-1928, the MDA Lansing office at 517-373-1077, the MDNR Gaylord office at 989-732-3541, and for general information, the MSU Extension offices; for dairy call the Mio office at 989-826-1160, and for beef call the Harrisville office at 989-724-6478.

For more information visit www.michigan.gov/bovinetb

New Lothrop FFA teams advance to Regional competition

DURAND - Members of the New Lothrop FFA chapter advanced to the next level of competition by placing in the top two in their respective categories during the District Leadership Competition held at Durand High School on Saturday, February 9.

New Lothrop's Junior High Conduct of Meetings team, Greenhand Conduct of Meetings team, and Parliamentary Procedure team, along with Greenhand Public Speaker Hannah Hajek, will compete at the Regional Leadership Contest to be held this Thursday, February 21 at Byron High School.

Members of the Junior High Conduct of Meetings team are Caitlin Clason, Zachary Clason, Courtney Seamon, Kristen Wenzlick, Hayden Hafner, Cody Loll, Haleigh Austin, and alternate Michael Gasper.

Members of the Greenhand Conduct of Meetings team are Alaina Krupp, Katie Priest, Abby Colston, Ann Weisenberger, Jordyn Wendling, Jesse Streng, and Courtney Wendling.

Members of the Parliamentary Procedure team are Marissa Angst, Jon Harris, Kaitlin Ebenhoeh, Chelsea Parsons, and Abigail Seamon.

The regional competition is slated to begin at 4 p.m.

Community State Bank announces quarterly Community Care Fund recipients

ST. CHARLES -- Community State Bank is giving money away to local organizations through its Community Care Fund. This fund was set up in 1994 after an employee suggested collecting donations from co-workers in exchange for a designated "Dress Down Day." To date, over $60,000 has been donated from the Community Care Fund to nearly 100 organizations.

The recipients include: