The Alberta Beef Producers say the majority of “contact herd” cattle in last fall’s bovine tuberculosis outbreak have finished testing and been released from quarantine with no restrictions.
“A negative test result means these animals can be safely integrated into the normal trading activities of the Canadian cattle industry,” the group said in a newsletter sent Tuesday.
The group said cattle released after the negative test results carry no higher risk than other Canadian animals, suggesting the risk may be lower since the whole herd underwent strict testing.
“A full release from quarantine is in effect, a clean bill of health with regard to bTB,” the beef producers said.
READ MORE: What is bovine tuberculosis?
Watch below from November 2016: Quinn Campbell spoke to the owner of the cow at the centre of Alberta’s bovine tuberculosis outbreak, who said the ordeal has been devastating.
Cattle ranchers in parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan were impacted after a cow from Alberta that was slaughtered in the U.S. in October was found to have the disease.
The bovine tuberculosis outbreak in Alberta was declared a disaster by Premier Rachel Notley’s NDP government in December.
READ MORE: Bovine TB outbreak declared a disaster by Alberta government
The quarantine had spread to Saskatchewan by November.
About 26,000 cows had been quarantined on dozens of ranches and around 10,000 were slaughtered to ensure the disease didn’t spread.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) previously said $11.2 million was paid out in compensation to producers.
With a file from The Canadian Press
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