Brucellosis is a nationally and internationally regulated disease of livestock with significant consequences for animal health, public health, and international trade. NOROCK provides science based on an interdisciplinary approach to several key aspects: 1) estimating and modeling disease dynamics within and among wildlife species and populations, 2) identifying risks to cattle, and 3) assessing the effectiveness of different management interventions.
Background
In countries with less resources, brucellosis in humans is a serious recurring illness, and is one of the most economically important zoonotic diseases (spread from animals to humans) globally.
- In cattle, the primary cause of brucellosis is Brucella abortus, a zoonotic bacterial pathogen that also affects wildlife, including bison and elk.
- As a result of the Brucellosis Eradication Program that began in 1934, most of the country is now free of bovine brucellosis.
- The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), where brucellosis is constantly present in bison and elk, is the last known B. abortus reservoir in the U.S.
- The GYE is home to more than 5,500 bison that are the genetic descendants of the original free-ranging bison herds that survived into the early 1900s.
- GYE is also home to more than 125,000 elk whose habitats are managed through interagency efforts, including the National Elk Refuge and 22 supplemental winter feedgrounds maintained in Wyoming.
Risk to Cattle
Between April 2002 and November 2016, 22 beef cattle herds and 5 domestic bison herds were infected around the GYE.
- While this is a small number of domestic herds, the economic consequences of quarantine, depopulation, and/or test and removal of cattle can be high for cattle and bison owners.
- In addition, given the high rate of cattle movement around the U.S., the safety of the rest of the U.S. cattle population depends on the ability to detect and contain these cases of wildlife-livestock spillover.
Transmission from Wildlife
Except for the feedgrounds, elk were previously thought to be poor disease hosts.
- However, our research has shown that many elk populations have increased over the past 50 years
- here have been coincident increases in the number of elk testing positive for brucellosis in the GYE
- These results may have important implications for the management of brucellosis in the GYE, shifting some of the focus from bison to elk.
- Our research has determined that brucellosis around the GYE is related to elk moving away from the feedgrounds rather than spreading from bison to elk
- Suggests that gains in the control of brucellosis in the GYE are more likely to be achieved if focused on elk
Brucellosis is a nationally and internationally regulated disease of livestock with significant consequences for animal health, public health, and international trade. NOROCK provides science based on an interdisciplinary approach to several key aspects: 1) estimating and modeling disease dynamics within and among wildlife species and populations, 2) identifying risks to cattle, and 3) assessing the effectiveness of different management interventions.
Background
In countries with less resources, brucellosis in humans is a serious recurring illness, and is one of the most economically important zoonotic diseases (spread from animals to humans) globally.
- In cattle, the primary cause of brucellosis is Brucella abortus, a zoonotic bacterial pathogen that also affects wildlife, including bison and elk.
- As a result of the Brucellosis Eradication Program that began in 1934, most of the country is now free of bovine brucellosis.
- The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), where brucellosis is constantly present in bison and elk, is the last known B. abortus reservoir in the U.S.
- The GYE is home to more than 5,500 bison that are the genetic descendants of the original free-ranging bison herds that survived into the early 1900s.
- GYE is also home to more than 125,000 elk whose habitats are managed through interagency efforts, including the National Elk Refuge and 22 supplemental winter feedgrounds maintained in Wyoming.
Risk to Cattle
Between April 2002 and November 2016, 22 beef cattle herds and 5 domestic bison herds were infected around the GYE.
- While this is a small number of domestic herds, the economic consequences of quarantine, depopulation, and/or test and removal of cattle can be high for cattle and bison owners.
- In addition, given the high rate of cattle movement around the U.S., the safety of the rest of the U.S. cattle population depends on the ability to detect and contain these cases of wildlife-livestock spillover.
Transmission from Wildlife
Except for the feedgrounds, elk were previously thought to be poor disease hosts.
- However, our research has shown that many elk populations have increased over the past 50 years
- here have been coincident increases in the number of elk testing positive for brucellosis in the GYE
- These results may have important implications for the management of brucellosis in the GYE, shifting some of the focus from bison to elk.
- Our research has determined that brucellosis around the GYE is related to elk moving away from the feedgrounds rather than spreading from bison to elk
- Suggests that gains in the control of brucellosis in the GYE are more likely to be achieved if focused on elk