Wyoming Regaining Brucellosis-Free Status
OFFICE OF GOVERNOR DAVE FREUDENTHAL
September 12, 2006
CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Wyoming's brucellosis-free status was restored Tuesday, loosening restrictions placed on Wyoming producers by the federal government and following 18 months of work by a statewide task force.
An interim rule upgrading Wyoming's status was made effective by the US Department of Agriculture Tuesday and will become official when it is published in the Federal Register, which should take place within the next several days. It will then go out for public comment. Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who appointed most of the Wyoming Brucellosis Coordination Team membership in early 2004, said he was delighted by the USDA action and looks forward to the rule's publication.
"It is a tribute to the brucellosis task force and the others around the state who worked to make this effort successful," the governor said. "It also demonstrates the importance of the producers, hunters and Game and Fish in the eastern and western parts of the state working and staying together so that we can retain statewide brucellosis-free status."
Dr. Frank Galey, dean of the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and chairman of the state brucellosis task force, called the change "very good news" and said a lot of hard work went into making it a reality.
"We have had really great collaboration in dealing with brucellosis in Wyoming," Galey said. "Ranchers, the Game and Fish Department, the governor's office and administration, the Legislature, the University of Wyoming, the state veterinarian and the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, among many others, are involved. We must continue now to focus on managing this disease for the future in order to maintain our new, hard-won status."
Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that causes cattle, elk and bison to abort their calves. It also causes reduced birth weight and generally poor reproductive health in livestock. It is possible, though rare, for the disease to be transmitted to humans, causing undulant fever and various long-term health effects.
Wyoming lost its class-free status in early 2004 when a second brucellosis-infected herd was found in the state. When two or more infected herds are found in a state within a two-year period, that state cannot maintain its brucellosis-free status. At the time, Freudenthal called the status downgrade a "powerful blow to Wyoming's livestock industry" and noted that the state's next step was to do what it could both to help producers and to ensure that class-free status was restored as soon as possible.
Essentially, the requirements for states with Class A status are that all test-eligible cattle shall be tested for brucellosis within 30 days prior to change of ownership. If cattle were going directly to slaughter from the farm or ranch of origin and the identity of the herd of origin is maintained, they were exempt from this test requirement.
Regaining class-free status is based on a state carrying out all requirements of the brucellosis program and finding no cases of brucellosis in cattle and domestic bison for 12 months. The upgrade in status effectively lifts federal testing requirements for livestock shipped out of state, but state requirements determined and enforced by the Wyoming Livestock Board remain in place.
The United States is almost entirely free of brucellosis in cattle. Upon Wyoming's upgrade in status, only Idaho and Texas remain as states affected with cattle brucellosis. Both Idaho and Texas are designated as Class A.
"It's taken a lot of hard work to get here and a lot of involvement from multiple state and federal agencies to achieve this status," said State Veterinarian Dr. Dwayne Oldham. "We still have a lot of hard work ahead of us to maintain the status, and it's important that we pursue good management practices and don't become complacent. The brucellosis task force will continue to be a good vehicle for keeping these discussions on the table."
