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----
