University of Wyoming Laboratory Assistant Tracy Dunn performs diagnostic testing for brucellosis at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory. In October, the state veterinary laboratory tested nearly 9,400 animals for brucellosis.
When two heifers on a ranch near Meeteetse tested positive for exposure to brucellosis this fall, technicians from the University of Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory quickly tested more than 320 other cattle in the area in addition to the 250 tested in the source herd and determined that the disease had not spread.
A year earlier, more than 4,200 animals were tested shortly after brucellosis was reported in northern Wyoming, said Walt Cook, who coordinates brucellosis research at UW.
The ability to conduct such rapid testing is one example of how legislative support to combat brucellosis is paying off to the benefit of the state’s cattle producers, Cook said. He said brucellosis is a bacterial disease that can cause domestic cattle, elk and bison to abort their calves. Elk and bison of the greater Yellowstone area of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho are a reservoir of brucellosis in the United States, so the disease is a concern for cattle producers in that area.