Brucellosis
Brucellosis is a disease found in livestock and humans worldwide. Infected animals often experience a termination of pregnancy and further transmission occurs through direct contact with the fetuses and tissues.
In North America, the greater Yellowstone area is the last remaining reservoir of Brucella abortus. Over 20 cattle and farmed bison herds have been infected in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana since 2002, and the presence of the disease within livestock results in additional testing requirements and trade restrictions.
Recently, USGS and partner scientists have shown how brucellosis, a disease which has significant economic implications for the cattle industry and wildlife health, has been transmitted back and forth between cattle, bison and elk in the greater Yellowstone area.
“This study provides the most definitive evidence to date that brucellosis is now self-sustaining in Montana elk and has spread at an increased rate in elk populations outside of the feeding grounds,” said Pauline Kamath, USGS ecologist and lead author of the study.
Related Content
Modeling elk‐to‐livestock transmission risk to predict hotspots of brucellosis spillover
Wildlife reservoirs of infectious disease are a major source of human‐wildlife conflict because of the risk of potential spillover associated with commingling of wildlife and livestock. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the presence of brucellosis (Brucella abortus) in free‐ranging elk (Cervus canadensis) populations is of significant management concern because of the risk of disease transmiss
Authors
Nathaniel D. Rayl, Kelly Proffitt, Emily S. Almberg, Jennifer D. Jones, Jerod Merkle, Justin A. Gude, Paul C. Cross
Estimating the risk of elk-to-livestock brucellosis transmission in Montana
Wildlife reservoirs of infectious disease are a major source of human-wildlife conflict because of the risk of potential spillover associated with commingling of wildlife and livestock. In Montana, the presence of brucellosis (Brucella abortus) in free-ranging elk (Cervus canadensis) populations is of significant management concern because of the risk of disease transmission from elk to livestock.
Authors
Nathaniel D. Rayl, Kelly Proffitt, Emily S. Almberg, Jennifer D. Jones, Jerod Merkle, Justin A. Gude, Paul C. Cross
Winter feeding of elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and its effects on disease dynamics
Providing food to wildlife during periods when natural food is limited results in aggregations that may facilitate disease transmission. This is exemplified in western Wyoming where institutional feeding over the past century has aimed to mitigate wildlife–livestock conflict and minimize winter mortality of elk (Cervus canadensis). Here we review research across 23 winter feedgrounds where the mos
Authors
Gavin G. Cotterill, Paul C. Cross, Eric Cole, Rebecca K. Fuda, Jared D. Rogerson, Brandon Scurlock, Johan T. du Toit
Linking spring phenology with mechanistic models of host movement to predict disease transmission risk
Disease models typically focus on temporal dynamics of infection, while often neglecting environmental processes that determine host movement. In many systems, however, temporal disease dynamics may be slow compared to the scale at which environmental conditions alter host space-use and accelerate disease transmission.Using a mechanistic movement modelling approach, we made space-use predictions o
Authors
Jerod Merkle, Paul C. Cross, Brandon M. Scurlock, Eric Cole, Alyson B. Courtemanch, Sarah Dewey, Matthew J. Kauffman
Shifting brucellosis risk in livestock coincides with spreading seroprevalence in elk
Tracking and preventing the spillover of disease from wildlife to livestock can be difficult when rare outbreaks occur across large landscapes. In these cases, broad scale ecological studies could help identify risk factors and patterns of risk to inform management and reduce incidence of disease. Between 2002 and 2014, 21 livestock herds in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) were affected by bruc
Authors
Angela Brennan, Paul C. Cross, Katie Portacci, Brandon M. Scurlock, William H. Edwards
Estimating loss of Brucella abortus antibodies from age-specific serological data in elk
Serological data are one of the primary sources of information for disease monitoring in wildlife. However, the duration of the seropositive status of exposed individuals is almost always unknown for many free-ranging host species. Directly estimating rates of antibody loss typically requires difficult longitudinal sampling of individuals following seroconversion. Instead, we propose a Bayesian st
Authors
J. A. Benavides, D. Caillaud, B. M. Scurlock, E. J. Maichak, W.H. Edwards, Paul C. Cross
Assessment of a strain 19 brucellosis vaccination program in elk
Zoonotic diseases in wildlife present substantial challenges and risks to host populations, susceptible domestic livestock populations, and affected stakeholders. Brucellosis, a disease caused by the bacterium Brucella abortus, is endemic among elk (Cervus canadensis) attending winter feedgrounds and adjacent areas of western Wyoming, USA. To minimize transmission of brucellosis from elk to elk an
Authors
Eric Maichak, Brandon M. Scurlock, Paul C. Cross, Jared D. Rogerson, William H. Edwards, Benjamin Wise, Scott G. Smith, Terry J. Kreeger
Related Content
Modeling elk‐to‐livestock transmission risk to predict hotspots of brucellosis spillover
Wildlife reservoirs of infectious disease are a major source of human‐wildlife conflict because of the risk of potential spillover associated with commingling of wildlife and livestock. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the presence of brucellosis (Brucella abortus) in free‐ranging elk (Cervus canadensis) populations is of significant management concern because of the risk of disease transmiss
Authors
Nathaniel D. Rayl, Kelly Proffitt, Emily S. Almberg, Jennifer D. Jones, Jerod Merkle, Justin A. Gude, Paul C. Cross
Estimating the risk of elk-to-livestock brucellosis transmission in Montana
Wildlife reservoirs of infectious disease are a major source of human-wildlife conflict because of the risk of potential spillover associated with commingling of wildlife and livestock. In Montana, the presence of brucellosis (Brucella abortus) in free-ranging elk (Cervus canadensis) populations is of significant management concern because of the risk of disease transmission from elk to livestock.
Authors
Nathaniel D. Rayl, Kelly Proffitt, Emily S. Almberg, Jennifer D. Jones, Jerod Merkle, Justin A. Gude, Paul C. Cross
Winter feeding of elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and its effects on disease dynamics
Providing food to wildlife during periods when natural food is limited results in aggregations that may facilitate disease transmission. This is exemplified in western Wyoming where institutional feeding over the past century has aimed to mitigate wildlife–livestock conflict and minimize winter mortality of elk (Cervus canadensis). Here we review research across 23 winter feedgrounds where the mos
Authors
Gavin G. Cotterill, Paul C. Cross, Eric Cole, Rebecca K. Fuda, Jared D. Rogerson, Brandon Scurlock, Johan T. du Toit
Linking spring phenology with mechanistic models of host movement to predict disease transmission risk
Disease models typically focus on temporal dynamics of infection, while often neglecting environmental processes that determine host movement. In many systems, however, temporal disease dynamics may be slow compared to the scale at which environmental conditions alter host space-use and accelerate disease transmission.Using a mechanistic movement modelling approach, we made space-use predictions o
Authors
Jerod Merkle, Paul C. Cross, Brandon M. Scurlock, Eric Cole, Alyson B. Courtemanch, Sarah Dewey, Matthew J. Kauffman
Shifting brucellosis risk in livestock coincides with spreading seroprevalence in elk
Tracking and preventing the spillover of disease from wildlife to livestock can be difficult when rare outbreaks occur across large landscapes. In these cases, broad scale ecological studies could help identify risk factors and patterns of risk to inform management and reduce incidence of disease. Between 2002 and 2014, 21 livestock herds in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) were affected by bruc
Authors
Angela Brennan, Paul C. Cross, Katie Portacci, Brandon M. Scurlock, William H. Edwards
Estimating loss of Brucella abortus antibodies from age-specific serological data in elk
Serological data are one of the primary sources of information for disease monitoring in wildlife. However, the duration of the seropositive status of exposed individuals is almost always unknown for many free-ranging host species. Directly estimating rates of antibody loss typically requires difficult longitudinal sampling of individuals following seroconversion. Instead, we propose a Bayesian st
Authors
J. A. Benavides, D. Caillaud, B. M. Scurlock, E. J. Maichak, W.H. Edwards, Paul C. Cross
Assessment of a strain 19 brucellosis vaccination program in elk
Zoonotic diseases in wildlife present substantial challenges and risks to host populations, susceptible domestic livestock populations, and affected stakeholders. Brucellosis, a disease caused by the bacterium Brucella abortus, is endemic among elk (Cervus canadensis) attending winter feedgrounds and adjacent areas of western Wyoming, USA. To minimize transmission of brucellosis from elk to elk an
Authors
Eric Maichak, Brandon M. Scurlock, Paul C. Cross, Jared D. Rogerson, William H. Edwards, Benjamin Wise, Scott G. Smith, Terry J. Kreeger