Up to 3,000 cows may be tested this weekTeams of veterinarians are testing up to 3,000 cows for brucellosis in the Meeteetse area after preliminary tests showed three cows from a herd in that area may be infected with the bacterial disease. Dr. Jim Logan, the Wyoming state veterinarian, said Monday that teams of vets would test cattle every day this week. He estimated up to 3,000 cows would be tested, including the herd the three cows came from and cattle in up to nine other herds that mingled with this one on summer grazing allotments.

“All of the contact herds are in that location,” Logan said. He said Wyoming state statutes that guarantee anonymity for the herd owner prevent him from releasing any information about the infected herd, including how large it is.

The three cows tested positive in an initial test at a livestock market, Logan said, and further testing continues at the Wyoming state laboratory. Tests to confirm brucellosis could take a few weeks, he said.

Logan will speak about the potential brucellosis infection at a public meeting tonight (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. at the Meeteetse Conservation District office, in the old town hall at 910 Park Ave. He said the meeting, called by the Wyoming Livestock Board, will include a question and answer session.

Logan said confirmation of brucellosis in the herd would not automatically lead to the slaughter of the entire herd as it has at times in the past. With federal rules on brucellosis changing in recent years, “as long as we're dealing with it appropriately” by quarantining potentially infected animals, then Wyoming probably will not lose its current brucellosis-free status.

“We've got it contained,” Logan said, and it's “not very likely” that this herd will be slaughtered. Individual animals that test positive would be slaughtered, a process called “test and remove.”

“It's more flexible and a lot less invasive,” Logan said, than killing entire herds. “We want to avoid that if we possibly can.”

Logan said all the cattle in the herd had been vaccinated against brucellosis, a bacterial disease that can cause cattle, elk and bison to abort their calves. It can also cause undulant fever in people. He said every herd that tested positive in Wyoming over the past six to eight years was also vaccinated.

Brucellosis vaccination is required under Wyoming Livestock Board rules, Logan pointed out, but “it can override the vaccine. If that exposure risk is high, vaccinated or not, they're probably going to come down with it.”

The brucellosis vaccine is effective about 70 percent of the time, he said. Research into better vaccines continues, but results may be years away.

Good herd management is as important as vaccination to limit brucellosis exposure, he said. Limiting access to wildlife from January through June, when elk or bison are likely to give birth or abort their calves, can help but that can be difficult.

Those months are “when management can certainly at least help to prevent some problems,” he said.