Why are some affected herds quarantined rather than depopulated?
A. Depopulation of an entire herd is voluntary. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) encourages producers to depopulate entire herds and offers indemnity payments at fair-market value (up to $3,000 per animal). Due to the biological limitations of TB tests, total herd depopulation is the only method guaranteed to remove 100 percent of the infected animals; it is the preferred method of TB control for the eradication program.
