Brucellosis in Wyoming

Well I see the fat's in the fire for Wyoming now. <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/01/23/build/wyoming/30-brucellosis.inc">Brucellosis found in more Wyoming cattle</a> This is a very signifigant development since it will cause Wyoming cattle producers to have to test any intact breeding animal for brucellosis prior to shipping it out of state. This is a very costly and time consuming procedure.<br />n<!–more–><br />nI do have a couple of things I would like to point out.<br />n<br />n<i>"We're not trying to point a finger but the reality is we do have a lot of brucellosis-infected wildlife and there is potential for transmission to livestock," Logan said.<br />n<br />nThe outbreak in the Sublette County herd has not been traced to other cattle, raising suspicions that the disease was passed from elk, he said.<br />n<br />n"Obviously the search for a source migrates to wildlife because we know that this herd was adjacent to one of the (state-run) elk feed grounds," Logan said. </i><br />n<br />nSince the feed grounds are "state-run" where the elk are fed and this has caused such a high incident of brucellosis in the elk, shouldn't the state pay all the extra costs associated with testing of cattle? This just shows to me the unintended consequences of messing around with nature. Try to help the elk get through the winter, and cause disease in them.<br />n<br />n<i>Any state in which two cattle herds test positive for the disease within a year loses its brucellosis-free status.<br />n<br />nThe one bright spot – if there is one – is that the Worland herd was part of the Sublette herd, which probably means that the newest infections were probably not part of a separate outbreak, Magagna said.</i><br />n<br />nIf the Worland herd is part of the Sublette herd, why is this cosidered two seperate herds? The bureaucratic mind set here is beyond me. Sounds like a little common sense could be injected here. <br />n<br />nI really feel for the Wyoming cattle producers. Hopefully we won't have the same kind of problems here.<br />n<br />n<b>The law of unintended consequences pushes us ceaselessly through the years, permitting no pause for perspective.<br />nRichard Schickel </b>