WEST VIRGINIA FREE OF TWO MAJOR CATTLE DISEASES
West Virginia has been declared free
of tuberculosis and brucellosis from its cattle population, the
U.S. Agriculture Department said.
    It said a state is recognized as tuberculosis-free if no
case of the disease is diagnosed for at least five years and if
the state complies with the uniform methods and rules of the
state-federal cooperative eradication program.
    To achieve brucellosis-free status, a state's cattle
population must remain uninfected for the previous 12 months.
    There are 33 states, plus the U.S. Virgin Islands,
classified as free of bovine tuberculosis and 24 states, plus
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which have eradicated
brucellosis. Only 20 states and the U.S. Virgin islands have
eradicated both diseases, it noted.
 Reuter
