Brucellosis Confirmed in Wyoming Cattle Herd

Blood from these cows initially tested positive at a sale barn. However, since false positive blood tests can occur, the cows were sent to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory where they were necropsied and cultured. With culture, tissues are tested for the actual bacteria. In this case, the bacterium was cultured from tissues from both cows.

The Wyoming Livestock Board and USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) plans to test the remainder of the cattle herd this week to discover if additional cattle may be infected. Once that is complete they will test neighboring cattle herds and complete investigations in an attempt to discover the source of the infection and determine if the infection has spread.

They say that the Daniel cattle producer with the infected herd now faces some tough decisions. The implications of an outbreak such as this are that the herd must either be depopulated or undergo repeated testing and removal of positive cattle.

Since his herd is now considered infected with brucellosis, if it is not depopulated the state may lose its Brucellosis-Free status granted by APHIS. The loss of this status would result in testing requirements for all cattle in the state when they are sold or move out of state.

Further Reading

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Find out more information on Brucellosis by clicking here.

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