State Plans To Test Cattle For Disease
CHEYENNE - Officials will test a Wyoming cattle herd for any evidence of brucellosis because the animals shared a fence line with a Montana herd from which some animals have recently tested positive for the disease.
8 June 2007
1 minute read
Walt Cook, acting Wyoming state veterinarian, said the Wyoming and federal officials intend to test about 330 yearling heifers and 180 cows at the ranch headquarters near Cowley in Big Horn County next week.
Cook said another 600 cow-calf pairs have already moved up to summer pasture and will be inaccessible until fall. He said those animals will be held under quarantine until they can be tested.
Seven cows from a ranch in Montana tested positive for brucellosis last month. Cook said those cows were from a herd that shared a fence line with the Wyoming herd, but said there's no indication that there was any exchange of animals between the herds.
Cook said it would be uncommon for cattle to spread brucellosis from herd to herd when they're fenced apart. But, he said, "it's certainly a potential, and that's why you need to follow up on it."
For more information on brucellosis, click here.
