Brucellosis Scare Prompts Emergency Meeting Of Industry Leaders
HELENA — Now that cattle in Emigrant have been found free of brucellosis, the state needs to turn its attention to more effective ways of fighting the disease, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Wednesday.
24 May 2007
1 minute read
“This is an extraordinary event, so we want to make sure we get everything right,” Schweitzer said as he announced an emergency meeting next Tuesday to discuss the issue.
The detection of brucellosis — a disease that causes cows to abort their calves — in cows from a herd near Bridger sent tremors through the state’s $2.5 billion cattle industry. Montana, which has been brucellosis free since 1985, is the seventh-largest producer of beef cattle nationwide, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
All six infected cattle, and a seventh that was shipped to Iowa, are from a herd near Bridger owned by the daughter and son-in-law of state Rep. Bruce Malcolm, who owns the Emigrant ranch where the second herd was tested and found disease-free. The Emigrant cattle will be retested at least twice, Malcolm said Wednesday.
Source: GreatFallsTribune
