Quarantine Ordered After Bovine Tuberculosis Detected on Molokai
The island has a storied history of bovine tuberculosis, including a complete eradication of cattle from the island in 1985.
Hawaii’s Department of Agriculture issued a quarantine order Friday to clamp down on the movement of cattle and other ungulates on Molokai due to bovine tuberculosis.
Several cases of the bacterial disease have been detected in cattle and pigs on the island since June.
The agriculture department already had issued quarantine orders for six infected herds in the central and western areas of Molokai. The announcement Friday expanded that to the entire island, according to a press release.
The movement of ungulates — cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, deer and antelope — on and to the island will now require approval from the State Veterinarian’s Office.
The disease predominantly occurs in cattle but can be transferred to people. According to the CDC, bovine tuberculosis accounts for 2% of all human tuberculosis cases in the United States,聽or about 230 people per year.
The DOA’s order will not affect hunting or prohibit the slaughter, sale and transportation of meat from the island.
The length of the quarantine order period is uncertain as it will depend on the successful eradication of the disease.
Local hunters also will be deployed to capture and test wild ungulates to help determine the scope of the issue as severe drought has pushed deer populations westward, according to the DOA.
Due to that westward shift, deer and livestock are in closer proximity to each other. Bovine tuberculosis has historically been confined to wildlife in eastern parts of the island.
The island’s entire herd of 9,000 cattle was eradicated in 1985 by DOA because of the disease.
鈥Hawaii Grown鈥 is funded in part by grants from the Ulupono Fund at the Hawaii Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation.聽
