The Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) has issued a quarantine order to limit the movement of all hoofed animals, except for horses, after bovine tuberculosis (bTB) was detected on the island of Molokai.
According to a news release from Gov. David Y. Ige (D-HI), the length of the order will depend on when bTB is under control. The governor issued the island-wide quarantine earlier this month.
“The department’s Animal Disease Control Branch has been working closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prevent the further spread of bovine tuberculosis on Molokai,” Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, chairperson of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture, told the governor's website. “However, with recent detections, this quarantine is necessary to help protect uninfected herds on Molokai and also livestock across the state.”
HDOA issued quarantine orders on six herds infected in the west and central sections of Molokai from June of last year to March of this year. In order to move any live hoofed animals, other than horses, approval and a permit from a state veterinarian’s office will be required, according to the governor. The order includes cattle, goats, sheep, swine, deer and antelope.
The order does not impact the hunting of wild deer, pigs, antelope, sheep or goats on the island, nor does it impact the transportation of meat from livestock or the wild animal population.
The governor’s website noted that bovine tuberculosis has been known to exist on the island since the 1940s, and in 1985, officials removed all cattle from the island to head off the spread of bTB. In 1993, Hawaii received "bovine tuberculosis-free" status from the USDA.