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Manitoba Conservation has announced the Bovine Tuberculosis Surveillance Program has exceeded its goal for 2004. The Bovine TB program has received double the number of hunter-harvested deer samples needed this year from the Riding Mountain area and met target numbers from the Duck Mountain area.
Hunters have contributed complete, high-quality deer samples at the biological sample stations and district offices throughout the deer-hunting season in record numbers. The goal of the bovine TB surveillance program is to gather a sample of 325 deer in both the Riding Mountain and Duck Mountain areas. Through the support of hunters, the surveillance program was able to exceed this goal.
Samples are first examined at the Riding Mountain Laboratory and any suspect samples are sent to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Veterinary Laboratory in Nepean, Ont.. Results are expected within three months and hunters will be notified only if a sample tests positive. Manitoba Conservation reminds hunters that elk sample collection will be occurring during the elk-hunting seasons in these same surveillance areas.
The bovine TB surveillance program is a co-operative effort of the Bovine TB Task Group which includes Manitoba Conservation, Parks Canada, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, with consultation from the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association and the Manitoba Wildlife Federation. The bovine TB surveillance program appreciates the co-operation by hunters who have submitted deer and elk samples over the past six years.
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