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State agency sees drop in elk brucellosis PINEDALE, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming's vaccination program has resulted in a 50 percent drop in elk brucellosis cases in the last 15 years, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The Greys River Feedground near Alpine was used to test the long-term effectiveness of the vaccine, which has been administered to elk in northwestern Wyoming since 1984. "Tests at the Greys River Feedground prove vaccinating elk for brucellosis works and reduces the incidence of the disease," said Scott Smith, Game and Fish brucellosis biologist. At one feed ground, 1999 blood tests revealed nearly 75 percent fewer brucellosis-exposed elk compared to a similar feed ground where no vaccination has taken place in the 15-year vaccination effort, he said. State elk feeders use special air guns armed with vaccine-loaded "bio-bullets" against the bacterial disease that induces abortions in elk and cattle. The vaccinations have been administered on 21 of the Game and Fish Department's 22 feed grounds that stretch from the Gros Ventre River northeast of Jackson to south of Pinedale and Big Piney. This past winter, nearly all of the calves on feed grounds were vaccinated. "Vaccinating calves is particularly important to help reduce the infection rate and transmission of the disease," Smith said. "By developing immunity before they reach reproductive age, the elk are much less likely to become infected and expose other elk to the disease." Game and Fish veterinarians believe that brucellosis could be controlled if state agents were allowed to vaccinate on all feed grounds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prohibits vaccinations on the National Elk Refuge, which is Wyoming's largest feed ground with about 7,300 elk. The federal agency says the state has no right to pre-empt its brucellosis-prevention efforts and that the vaccine has not been proven to work on elk. The state has taken the matter to court and a decision is pending. Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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