The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared a warning to hunters after a man in Michigan was found to have developed tuberculosis caused by bacteria transmitted from deer carcass.
In a report released this week, the CDC said the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services was notified in 2017 of a 77-year-old man who had tuberculosis caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium bovis or M. bovis.
The man had no history of travel to countries with endemic tuberculosis, had no known exposure to someone with tuberculosis and was a regular hunter who had field-dressed deer in the state for 20 years, according to the CDC.
The man also lived the northeastern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, which has a higher occurrence of M. bovis-positive deer, the CDC said.
After testing, the man was found to have been exposed to M. bovis bacteria. The report suggests that the man may have inhaled the bacteria while field-dressing diseased deer carcasses.
Bovine tuberculosis is an infectious disease that is caused by the bacteria M. bovis. The bacteria is most commonly found in cattle and other animals such as bison, elk, and deer. (Photo credit: Michigan Department of Natural Resources)
Two earlier hunting-related human infections with M. bovis were reported in Michigan in 2002 and 2004. In those cases, the patients had signs and symptoms of active TB and required medical treatment, the CDC said.