041122 New Brucellosis Case Hits Wyoming

Jackson, WY - Four animals in a Teton County cattle herd tested positive for the brucellosis antibody, officials announced this week, requiring the state to start the clock again to obtain brucellosis-free status.

The four animals were in two different herds on one ranch in Teton County. Two animals from a purebred herd that grazes on the ranch tested positive for the disease, and culture results this week confirmed earlier tests.

Two other animals graze in Grand Teton National Park in the summer and have tested positive for the brucellosis antibody. Culture results are not yet in.

The animals were tested because they came into contact with another Teton County herd in which some animals tested positive for brucellosis in July. That rancher chose to destroy his herd.

Also, a cow slaughtered from the newly infected herd tested positive for brucellosis, and the state was able to trace it back to this Jackson herd, prompting the need for testing.

The owner of this new herd can choose to destroy these herds -- about 600 animals -- or put them in quarantine subject to at least three more tests.

Dwayne Oldham, Wyoming state veterinarian, said it is not known if this new herd had the infection first and then gave it to the July herd. He called the scenario, "the chicken and the egg."

He also said the strain of brucellosis found in the June herd and the purebred herd are the same.

The strain indicates it's a wildlife source, he said. The rancher has sent about 11 hunters onto his property this year.

But Oldham said he didn't know if the strain was from elk or bison.

"It seems to me it's academic," he said.

He said the Wyoming Livestock Board is doing what it can to prevent brucellosis, and "the wildlife entities need to step up to the plate."

Whether the rancher chooses to depopulate the herd may depend on whether he can afford hay for the winter while the animals are in quarantine, Oldham said.

There are two other herds in Sublette County that came into contact with the infected herd and now need to be tested, Oldham said.

The park herd -- with culture results still pending -- was sampled Nov. 2.

This case is the fifth brucellosis outbreak in the state since November last year. A Sublette County herd tested positive first, followed by herds in Washakie, Teton and Campbell counties. The Campbell County case is still under investigation, but state officials say that positive test was likely a laboratory error.

Nebraska, California, Idaho, Montana and Colorado imposed restrictions on Wyoming cattle entering those states after the first two outbreaks.

Wyoming can now receive brucellosis-free status in November 2005 at the earliest.

Brucellosis can cause cattle to abort and can cause undulant fever in humans

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