Glacier FarmMedia—Manitoba’s long stretch without a bovine tuberculosis case has come to an end.
On June 16, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said they were investigating a bovine tuberculosis infection in a dairy cow, which had come from a farm in the Pembina Valley region of south-central Manitoba.
Why it matters: Canada has had brushes with bovine tuberculosis in recent years, but not in Manitoba.
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According to a CFIA notice to industry, samples had been taken from the seven-year-old animal at the abattoir. Labs found the bacteria responsible for bovine tuberculosis June 9, 2025. The finding was later confirmed June 13.
Officials tracked down the originating farm through the DairyTrace traceability program. The CFIA says the herd has been quarantined, pending further testing and depopulation.
“The timing of testing will be determined after discussions with the producer to manage the operational impact of the process,” the agency said.
“The CFIA is continuing to work closely with producers, industry associations, and provincial and federal agricultural and health authorities throughout the investigation.”
The investigation is still in its early days, the CFIA said.
Canada’s bovine TB record
Until this point, the only bovine tuberculosis cases confirmed in Canada since 2018 have originated in Saskatchewan. In February 2023, U.S. officials found the disease in a heifer that had come from Canada. After tracking that animal back to its originating farm, 32 animals in the herd were also found infected. Traceability did not find infection in any potential contact herds
Another case was confirmed in November 2024. Samples from a six-year-old cow, collected at an an abattoir in Alberta came back positive for infection. That cow was tracked back to a farm in Saskatchewan and the birth herd was quarantined. As of June 5, the CFIA had found 25 cases in the one infected herd, which has been depopulated.
Traceability efforts flagged 39 potentially linked herds, 12 of which have been released from quarantine.
In May, Saskatchewan beef producers took the government to task on bovine tuberculosis. They argued that farmers of infected farms should get better compensation, wildlife testing should be bolstered and that more work should be done on vaccines.
