BILLINGS, Mont. - Livestock officials in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho are planning a series of meetings to explain new rules proposed for the animal disease brucellosis in the area around Yellowstone National Park.

Brucellosis, which can cause pregnant animals to miscarry, has been eradicated nationwide in cattle but persists in Yellowstone's wildlife. At least seven times in the past decade it's been transmitted to cattle, leading to government-imposed trade restrictions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now considering an overhaul of its brucellosis rules that would carve out the Yellowstone region as a special disease area.

Meetings on the proposal began Tuesday in Billings and will be held today in Bozeman, Mont., and in Wyoming, on Aug. 18 in Cody and Aug. 19 in Pinedale.

Idaho's meeting dates are pending.