Minnesota TB timeline

February 2005 -
Inspectors from the USDA identify a five-year-old cow at a Wisconsin slaughterhouse as suspicious for tuberculosis. The animal is traced to a Roseau County beef herd. The USDA and the Minnesota Board of Animal Health begin an investigation, and the herd is placed under quarantine.

July 2005 -
The board and the USDA declare the Roseau County herd infected with the disease. By the end of the month, 18 Minnesota herds are under quarantine in Beltrami, Goodhue, Polk, and Roseau counties.

August 2005 -
An examination of records from the infected herd leads to the quarantine of 14 Minnesota herds and traces to Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Four other Minnesota herds are quarantined because they have had fence-line contact with the infected herd.

October 2005 -
So far, 31 herds have been quarantined. Nine of them are released from quarantine after testing finds those herds TB-free. Counties with quarantined herds now include Lake of the Woods, Marshall and Cass.

Four herds have tested positive in Roseau County; three of them share fence lines.

November 2005 -
A total of 39 herds have been quarantined. The first infected herd is destroyed. The farm is cleaned and disinfected.

December 2005 -
The USDA moves to strip the state of its tuberculosis-free status after a fifth infected herd is found in northwestern Minnesota.

Source: Minnesota Board of Animal Health