WYOMING — A cattle herd in Sublette County has tested positive for brucellosis during routine annual testing and is now under quarantine.
According to a Tuesday press release from the Wyoming Livestock Board (WLSB), the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie conducted the testing, and results were confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. The herd is located within Wyoming’s brucellosis Designated Surveillance Area (DSA), which includes all of Sublette, Park and Teton counties, and parts of Lincoln and Fremont counties. The affected herd will undergo serial testing to meet requirements for quarantine release.
This brings the state’s total of quarantining herds to two, with one in Park County, per WLSB. Affected herds are tested in a collaborative effort between herd owners, veterinary practitioners, WLSB personnel and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) personnel. Brucellosis-positive cattle are not uncommon within the state’s DSA because there is a “brucellosis reservoir” in wildlife that can cross over to domestic herds.
Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that causes cattle, elk and bison to abort calves and further transmit the disease. According to a description of the bovine disease by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, bison and elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are the last remaining carriers of this disease in the U.S.
“Annual herd testing for brucellosis prevents spread of the disease and is an essential mitigation tool,” WLSB Assistant State Veterinarian Dr. Teckla Webb said in the statement. “Brucellosis herd mitigation plans offered by the WLSB may cover the costs of annual testing and provide further suggestions to prevent your herd from becoming infected.”
