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State lab confirms brucellosis in Daniel-area cattleCHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP)--The Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory has confirmed positive brucellosis tests for two cows from a Daniel ranch, state livestock officials said, June 16. The state reported recently that blood tests taken at a sale barn first showed the cows had brucellosis. The cows then were sent to the state lab, where the brucellosis bacterium was cultured from the tissue of both animals. Officials with the Wyoming Livestock Board and the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service plan to test the rest of the ranch's herd to determine if more cattle are infected. The agencies will also conduct testing of neighboring cattle herds to figure out if the infection has spread, said Jim Schwartz, director of the Wyoming Livestock Board. "With this new herd, it's going to require a lot of testing for a lot of different herds that we haven't tested before," Schwartz said. "We're going to go looking for it, to be honest with you." Brucellosis is a disease carried by wild animals including bison and elk in the greater Yellowstone area. It can cause pregnant cows to abort their calves but transmission to humans is rare. In February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared all 50 states to be brucellosis-free in their commercial herds--the first time that had happened in 74 years. That status was broken last week when Montana livestock officials reported that cows at a Paradise Valley ranch were infected with the disease. Wyoming has been classified as brucellosis-free since September 2006, after losing the status in 2004. State officials in Wyoming have not identified the Daniel rancher whose cattle were infected with brucellosis. The livestock board said the rancher will have to decide whether to slaughter the entire herd or conduct repeated testing and removal of animals that test positive. Wyoming could lose its brucellosis-free status if the rancher decides not to slaughter the herd within 60 days, Schwartz said. The federal government would compensate the rancher for the loss of each animal, but that wouldn't make up for the value lost in wiping out the herd's genetic line, which can take decades or generations to develop, he said. "It's a horrible decision," Schwartz said. "Most (ranchers) feel they're taking a critical hit just so the rest of the producers in Wyoming will benefit." If the rancher agrees to slaughter the entire herd, the state wouldn't lose its federal brucellosis-free status unless another case was discovered within the next two years, Schwartz said. Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said Wyoming is well positioned to test for brucellosis and control an outbreak because of the state's experience in 2004. He said the last outbreak had an immediate impact on Wyoming ranchers' abilities to market their livestock and prompted some states to impose restrictions on the movement of cattle out of Wyoming. "Those are pretty real impacts that we could well anticipate again," Magagna said. The livestock board will hold a meeting at 7 p.m., June 17, at Pinedale High School to discuss the latest brucellosis issues. 6/30/08 Date: 6/25/08
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