One third of Hot Springs County is in the Brucellosis DSA

What is the DSA you ask and why is Hot Springs County included in it? It is Designated Surveillance Area (DSA) but to understand what that is you first need to know what Brucellosis is. Ask any area rancher what brucellosis is and they can probably tell you. Ask any elk hunter and they’ve probably heard of it, but may not know what it is.

What is Brucellosis?

Brucellosis is a highly contagious bacterial disease that has been known to be around since the 19th century. The disease affects humans, cattle, elk and bison. It is thought that brucellosis was probably introduced into the Yellowstone area from infected bison from a brucellosis-infected cattle ranch. Then elk likely contracted brucellosis when they shared breeding and feed grounds with the infected bison and cattle in the early 1900s.

Infection with Brucella abortus in animals can cause abortion, birth of stillborn or weak calves, retained placenta, and reduced milk production. Infected animals usually abort only once but can still shed the organism in amniotic fluid and milk at subsequent calvings. Natural transmission occurs via ingestion of the disease organisms, which are present in large numbers in aborted fetuses, fetal membranes, and uterine and amniotic fluids. The bacteria can survive for some time depending on the environment. Brucellae have been recovered from fetuses and from feces that have remained in a cool environment for more 2 months. Infectivity may remain for 100 days in winter and 30 days in summer.

A cooperative state-federal brucellosis eradication program has existed for more than seventy years because of the disease’s economic impact on cattle ranchers and because it can be aserious human disease. This program has nearly eliminated brucellosis in domestic livestock, but the disease still exists in free range elk and bison in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA), which includes Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. In Wyoming, only in the northwest area have wildlife been found to have and carry the disease.

Designated Surveillance Area (DSA)

The Brucellosis DSA is an area of Wyoming where possible brucellosis wildlife are known to exist and where co-mingling of wildlife and livestock may lead to transmission of brucellosis.

Because the disease can spread from wildlife to cattle, special mitigation efforts, and enhanced surveillance, both voluntary and regulated, are in place in the DSAs.

The DSA takes in most of the northwestern portion of Wyoming, including all or part of Park, Teton, Sublette, Lincoln, Fremont and Hot Springs counties.

Almost a third of Hot Springs County is in the Designated Surveillance Area (DSA). What does this mean to area ranchers and wildlife enthusiasts?

Ranchers in the DSA Besides the statewide federal requirement for all heifer calves to be brucellosis vaccinated (the “Bangs vaccine”) between four and 12 months of age, there are other protocols specifically for those ranches in the DSA area. As part of the Bangs vaccination, the heifers are automatically given a USDA official ID. Vaccinated heifers receive an official tattoo designating the year of vaccination as well as a metal or RFID official identification tag. Ranches that reside in the DSA are also required to brucellosis test any female a year or older within 30 days prior to selling, crossing state lines or leaving the DSA. That technically means that, if the cows are in the DSA and being moved to another part of the county or another state, they are supposed to be tested.

In a cooperative effort with the Wyoming Livestock Board (WLB), Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory (WSVL), and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), livestock producers in the affected region are being encouraged to develop a plan for managing their herd. Producers fill out a risk assessment form which is reviewed, and a “Herd Plan” is recommended for the producer. In addition to the calfhood bangs vaccine, the herd plan also requires the producer to give a booster brucellosis vaccine to a female prior to her first breeding season. The plan also allows the producer and veterinarians to take advantage of funding and reimbursement from the state to help pay for the brucellosis testing and vaccinations. The herd plan program also gives a historical record of the animals within the herd and allows the rancher and WLB some leeway in quarantine restrictions if a cow should test positive or as a reactor. The idea is to minimize the cohabitation of elk and cattle, especially during calving season. The plan will also recommend herd tests either annually or every few years depending on their risk evaluation. It is extra work for the producers, but it allows not only them, but also the whole state of Wyoming, to be better able to market Wyoming’s cattle to the rest of the United States.

Wildlife enthusiasts

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease, which means that it can be spread between people and animals. Humans, including hunters, can become infected by handling the infected reproductive tract or fetus. Hunters should always wear protective gloves when field dressing, especially during late season. You can get sick if blood, fluid, or tissue from an infected animal comes in contact with your eyes, nose, mouth, or skin. This can happen when you are involved in hunting-related activities such as field dressing, butchering, handling or preparing raw meat for cooking or eating meat not thoroughly cooked.

Every year Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) monitors brucellosis within the state’s elk populations by requesting hunters to collect blood samples from their harvested animal. Surveillance is generally concentrated in target elk herds that surround, but do not use, state or federal elk feed grounds. Nearly a quarter of the state is surveyed each year, eventually providing coverage over the entire state. Since 1991 over 12,500 elk blood samples have been analyzed for brucellosis. To date, this disease has only been documented in the western half of Wyoming. The primary management concern is the possible transmission of brucellosis from elk to domestic cattle. In 2022, 1,003 elk blood samples were received by the Wildlife Health Lab. Of those, 972 were suitable for testing. From the 972 blood samples tested for B. abortus specific antibodies, 46 were classified as positive. Of those positives, all but 2 samples were within the DSA.

Correct blood sample collection from hunter-killed elk is key to viable data. When you reach your harvested animal, it is important to collect the blood sample as soon as possible. It is recommended that you take certain precautions when collecting your blood sample. There are three locations on an animal that are very easy for blood collection: the jugular vein in the neck, the femoral artery when removing the rear quarter, and the chest cavity. Once the collection tube is full, replace the cap firmly, wrap the tube in the paper towel and place in the plastic bag. Fill out the information card and include itwith the blood sample in the postage free mailer. It is very important to keep the blood sample cool but protect it from freezing. Please send your sample into the laboratory (or drop off at the nearest Game and Fish office) as soon as possible. For more detailed instructions for collecting blood samples check out the Wyoming Game & Fish website: https:// wgfd.wyo.gov/Wildlife-in-Wyoming/More-Wildlife/Wildlife-Disease/Brucellosis/Hunter-Surveillance-Blood-Kit

How can Brucellosis affect me?

Those most at risk for contracting the disease are hunters, ranchers, veterinarians, slaughter house workers and healthcare professionals that may come in contact with an infected animal or person. The Wyoming Department of

Health recommends an individual exposed to a known or suspect brucellosis infected elk, bison or cattle, through one of the following mechanisms should seek medical attention from a health care provider:

• Ingestion of unpasteurized milk or milk products including soft cheeses

• Direct contact of infectious or potentially infectious material (such as, fetal/aborted tissues or blood) with eyes, other mucous membranes, or open wounds

• Inhalation of potentially infectious material.

Signs and symptoms of brucellosis may include low-grade fever, joint pain, undue fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, headaches, night sweats, and depression. The infection can be successfully treated with a prolonged course of antibiotics. However, treatment takes several weeks to months, and the infection can recur. Laboratories, health care providers and county health departments are required to immediately report any suspected or confirmed cases of human brucellosis to the Wyoming Department of Health.

Prevention and elimination

Ultimately, the best prevention is to eliminate brucellosis from all animals in the area. Multiple strategies are currently being employed to help reduce the threat of brucellosis including vaccination of cattle and elk, trying to limit co-mingling of elk, wild bison, and cattle during the critical periods of transmission in the late winter and spring and surveillance, including testing of domestic and wild animals. Brucellosis in Wyoming is being

managed but the goal would be a Brucellosis free state.

For more information regarding brucellosis in Wyoming, visit any of these websites:

https://www.wyomingbrucellosis.com/#home

https://wlsb.state.wy.us/ public/animal-health

https://www.cdc.gov/brucellosis/index.html

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Wild-life-in-Wyoming/More-Wildlife/Wildlife-Disease/Brucellosis