Michigan state officials want hunters to help control bovine tuberculosis

State officials want hunters to shoot more deer in northeastern lower Michigan. Infected deer in the area spread a disease called bovine tuberculosis. It can kill cows, and it can be passed to people through unpasteurized dairy products.The state has already spent more than $150 million trying to eradicate the disease over the past two decades. But rates of bovine TB have spiked among the deer population in recent years, and several cattle herds have been newly infected. In April 2015, Jeremy Werth got the phone call that every dairy farmer in this area dreads. Werth runs a farm with his father and brother about 20 minutes west of Alpena.A state veterinarian was on the line telling him that some of his cows were infected with bovine tuberculosis.It was a shock to Werth.“There were no signs of tuberculosis,” he says. “Healthy as horses. They were just going about their daily routine and had no clue of any signs of infection of tuberculosis at all.”Werth’s family has been here long enough that there’s a road named after them - Werth Road - just east of the farm.About 80 of Werth’s 600 animals tested positive for TB.