LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials confirmed two whitetail deer were found to be Bovine tuberculosis-positive in Presque Isle County in northeastern Lower Michigan.

The officials announced last week they had established two potential high-risk areas in northern Lower Michigan for Bovine TB after two free-ranging deer tested positive for the disease. The designation requires all cattle and bison herds located within a 10-mile radius of a TB-positive deer to be tested for it within the next six months.

If a whole herd test was conducted on a farm less than six months prior to Feb. 9, the herd will not need another test. A so-called potential high-risk area is established when a TB-positive free-ranging deer is found. Cattle farms are tested to reassure those that buy Michigan cattle that TB isn’t transmitted from deer to livestock.

Cattle and bison herds in Presque Isle County and Cheboygan County townships within a 10-mile radius of the TB-positive deer will have to be tested. Cattle farms in the Modified Accredited Zone are already TB-tested on an annual basis, so there is no additional TB testing required in those townships.

This latest discovery will not affect the TB-free status of Presque Isle County, said Jennifer Holton, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Modified Accredited Zone, a zone where Bovine TB is endemic, includes four counties just to the south of Presque Isle County, where the TB-positive deer were discovered. Those are Montmorency, Alpena, Oscoda and Alcona; this is also the area where most TB-positive deer have been located in Michigan. Michigan is the only state in the country with an established population of Bovine TB-infected wild deer. Still, Michigan has made much progress in its fight against Bovine TB.

Last September Michigan made a request to the USDA to have seven additional counties added to the list of TB-free counties in the state. Those counties – Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, Otsego and Presque Isle – surround the current Modified Accredited Zone already mentioned.

In response, the USDA published an interim rule in the Federal Register and allowed the new counties to have this status immediately, waiving its right to review the request. There were no public comments on the interim rule.

Because of the new TB-free status in these counties, TB testing will be reduced and is expected to save cattle ranchers $10-$15 per head, according to the USDA. Regarding the most recent TB-positive deer, officials said they will contact any affected cattle owners privately and ask them to schedule a test. That way, the producers can avoid a quarantine being placed on their farms during fair season or sales.

A meeting will be held to discuss the TB program and the designation of the potential high risk area, on Feb. 26 at 7 .m. at the Presque Isle District Library, 181 East Erie St., Rogers City, MI 49779.