Brucellosis outbreak in Idaho still under investigation

 

 

The infectious bacterial disease brucellosis has been detected in a beef cow in eastern Idaho, US.

 

State agricultural officials are investigating to see if the infection is isolated or if it has spread to other herds.

 

The cow was part of a newly-assembled 600-head herd. No calves or bred females from the herd have been sold, according to a memo by Idaho Department of Agriculture state veterinarian Bill Barton.

 

The herd has been quarantined and is being tested, and epidemiologists are trying to find the source of the infection, said Barton.

"We've got just a few more head to do, and we'll be finishing that testing and have the results back in a few more days," he said.Barton said the herd's owner, who lives in the Rigby area, was cooperating. None of his cattle had been sold, other than directly to slaughter, Barton said. The infected animal and other cattle in the herd had been vaccinated for brucellosis, Barton said. "The vaccine is fairly efficacious in preventing disease, but it's not 100 percent," he said.

The animals came from a variety of sources, including private sales and livestock markets, Barton said. Officials had not yet determined where the man purchased the infected animal.Barton declined to detail what prompted the state to begin testing the animals, simply saying "there was an indication that this herd needed a whole-herd test."

A spokeswoman for the federal agency that oversees livestock diseases said an investigation has been launched into whether the infection has spread to other herds.

How long that investigation could take was uncertain, said Lindsay Cole with the Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The infection comes as government officials are considering softening restrictions that apply to states with brucellosis infections. Because the disease has been eliminated nationwide except for Yellowstone National Park and surrounding counties in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, the government has proposed turning that area into a brucellosis "hot zone." That would shield cattle producers outside the area from costly testing requirements for animals they ship out of state.