And now:Sonja Keohane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: <http://www.billingsgazette.com/wyomingframe.htm> Wyoming official says brucellosis tests to end CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The state's six-county brucellosis testing program for cattle will likely end this month, according to a state agriculture official. The state has no plans to continue the program after Jan. 12, according to Kelly Hamilton, law enforcement and disease control supervisor for the Wyoming Livestock Board's Animal Health Division. Livestock officials remain "quite optimistic" that a pending federal report on the state's brucellosis monitoring program will convince federal officials to recommend less extensive testing, Hamilton said this week. Preliminary reports from a U.S. Department of Agriculture team "have been very complimentary of the Wyoming livestock producers and very optimistic about Wyoming's future brucellosis protocol," the board said in a release. "We feel very strongly that there's light at the end of the tunnel," Hamilton said. "I think surveillance will continue, but surveillance does not necessarily mean heavy testing. We will undoubtedly have some surveillance, but that's a necessary element of any good animal health program." The Wyoming Livestock Board adopted testing requirements in November 1997, based on recommendations made by a U.S. Department of Agriculture team that reviewed Wyoming's brucellosis control efforts. Some states had threatened to stop buying Wyoming beef. Alabama and Oregon imposed sanctions on Wyoming cattle. Brucellosis can cause miscarriages in cattle and recurring fever in humans and is carried by many elk and bison in northwestern Wyoming, prompting a fear it could be spread to livestock. However, there has been no documented case of wildlife transmitting the disease to livestock in the open range. Ranchers called the program unnecessary and expensive and the state challenged the testing for Fremont, Sublette, Lincoln, Park, Teton and Hot Springs counties, but was rejected. Nearly 30,000 head of cattle have been tested since the program was instituted last January. So far, testing has revealed no Wyoming cattle carry the disease. The livestock board is currently drafting new rules to replace the expiring ones. The new rules will be submitted for public comment after the state receives the federal report sometime this month. ---end of article----