BILLINGS – Montana officials are asking the federal government to declare the state’s cattle free of brucellosis in a bid to end trade restrictions on livestock exports.
Yet because the disease persists in wildlife in and around Yellowstone National Park, state officials say blood tests on up to 200 Montana cattle ranches could continue indefinitely. Most other testing could end in about a year if the U.S. Department of Agriculture accepts the state’s proposal.
Several Yellowstone-area ranchers who face the possibility of brucellosis testing without end said they were willing to take part to help restore the reputation of the state’s billion-dollar cattle industry. But they also expressed worry that government officials were skirting the more difficult task of getting rid of brucellosis in wildlife.
“We’re basically going to give up on disease elimination in that zone,” said Lou Wilks, a rancher near Pray, Mont.
The Yellowstone region of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming is the last in the nation to harbor brucellosis. The disease causes pregnant animals to miscarry and is prevalent in Yellowstone’s elk and bison herds.
Since the most recent infection was found last June in a cow in Pray, Mont., more than 150,000 blood tests on cattle in the state have come back negative. More than 11,000 Montana ranches with a combined 1.6 million breeding cows have been under a blood testing mandate since federal officials revoked the state’s disease-free status last year.
State Veterinarian Marty Zaluski said the negative results to date should be enough to restore that status by year’s end. He said testing would then continue in seven Yellowstone-area counties for another six months, and then would be scaled back to ranches in parts of Gallatin, Park, Madison and possibly Beaverhead counties.
In Wyoming, which went through a similar process three years ago, Assistant State Veterinarian Jim Logan said Montana can expect it’s cattle trade to return to normal soon after it’s status is restored.
But he said some wariness from those who do business with Montana will remain.
“Just because you get your (disease) free status back doesn’t mean the risk disappears. I sure wish it did,” Logan said.
Wyoming is on the cusp of losing its brucellosis status after livestock officials last year identified one infected herd in the state. A second case would cause its status to be revoked.
Montana’s application to be declared disease-free comes as the U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a permanent brucellosis zone around Yellowstone. Hundreds of cattle ranches in the three Yellowstone states likely would face continued brucellosis testing as part of the government’s plan.
The governors of Idaho and Wyoming and several stockgrower groups oppose a brucellosis zone, saying it would put a stigma on ranches within its boundaries. Montana officials have been more accepting of the proposal, but are awaiting details to be worked out.
In the interim, plans for continued testing on cattle from 100 to 200 ranches near Yellowstone will help guard against the disease spreading, said USDA veterinarian Tom Linfield. Linfield said the ranches will all be in areas with diseased elk.
Elk have been named as the likely source in all of the known brucellosis infections in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming since 2000.
Attempts to come up with a vaccine effective in wildlife have so far come up short.
Wilks, the Pray rancher, said a “two-tiered system” — where cattle within high-risk areas face more restrictions than elsewhere — could ultimately undermine efforts to get rid of the disease.
“Elk herds can move fairly long distances,” Wilks said. “What you might be doing is just creating a false sense of security.”