090/29/08 Tri-state brucellosis plan

Concerns about the pockets of brucellosis in the West prompting federal officials and others to develop a plan to further control the disease. Brucellosis causes cows to abort their calves. Idaho has a brucellosis free status but Montana cattle ranchers near Yellowstone National Park were told by state officials that the will have to test and vaccinate their herds. Now a three state plan for Idaho, Montana and Wyoming is being developed. GRIFFIN "APHIS is just in the beginning stages of looking at a way to regionalize these areas so it's not as great an impact on individual states but more so trying to get different states to agree and come up with a plan that helps everybody." Lyndsey Griffin of the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says the plan will address issues such as livestock transportation restrictions when two or more brucellosis cases are detected in a state and also how to prevent wildlife to cattle transmission of the disease. Montana lost is class-free status with two brucellosis cases in the past year while Wyoming has one confirmed case. GRIFFIN "There is always a chance, they're still testing, and that could find that somewhere else and if they did find a second herd they would lose their class free status as well." State veterinarian Bill Barton and his colleagues in Montana and Wyoming have met and continue to talk about preventative measures. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott