PINEDALE - Other states are closely watching how Wyoming responds to its first brucellosis outbreak in over a decade, Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Monday.

Freudenthal said Wyoming's response over the next few weeks to an outbreak of brucellosis in a western Wyoming cattle herd will be the key to keeping the state's federally certified brucellosis-free status.

Freudenthal, along with federal and state officials, met with about 300 Pinedale-area ranchers and residents in a four-hour town meeting to discuss the implications of the outbreak.

The governor said states like Colorado, which has already imposed restrictions on Wyoming cattle because of the positive brucellosis test in the herd, are watching Wyoming's response carefully.

"It's important that we respond properly … I spoke to Colorado's (governor) this morning and they're watching to see how we respond and what steps we take," he said.

"If we do not act expeditiously and in a thoughtful manner … the other states will go down like dominos and we'll be in a much worse situation that we are in today," Freudenthal said.

State and federal officials have been tracking the extent of the brucellosis infection in Wyoming since initial tests two weeks ago showed that 31 of 391 head of cattle tested positive for the disease on an Upper Green River Valley ranch.

State Veterinarian Jim Logan said the 31 cattle at the ranch of Donald Jensen officially tested positive for brucellosis after a second round of testing. Brucellosis can cause cattle to abort their first calves and in some rare instances cause undulant fever in humans.

The infected herd is located in the Boulder area in western Wyoming, residing on private property adjacent to a state-operated elk feedground. Logan said the infected cattle were discovered during testing of livestock going to slaughter and traced back to the ranch.

Concern that brucellosis might have spread to more than one herd in the state lessened last week after officials tested more than 600 Hereford cattle at the Pete Arambel Ranch near Pinedale. Test results on that herd came up negative for the disease.

"We're currently bleeding other contact herds … we've done three or four and others are scheduled," Logan said. "So far … (initial results show) they've tested negative, which is very definitely good news for all of us. We hope that continues."

Freudenthal said that no matter what the outcome of the infected herd, he expects the state will continue to grapple with the issue of brucellosis until the disease is finally eliminated in livestock and wildlife.

"The immediate question is how do we respond to this one herd and those contact herds," he said.

"That's most urgent, but maybe it's not the most important because ultimately this issue is not going to go away," Freudenthal said. "When (brucellosis) flares up, we all pay attention, but when it dies down, we ignore it."

At stake for the state's ranching industry is Wyoming's federally certified brucellosis-free status, granted in 1985, which allows the free movement of cattle to market.

Federal rules say brucellosis in more than one herd in a state results in revocation of that state's brucellosis-free status.

Logan said Colorado has already imposed restrictions on Wyoming cattle and state agricultural officials fear other states may follow, depending on the outcomes of the tests.

He said if federal officials designate the herd as infected, the state will have 60 days to test all herds that had fenceline or physical contact with the infected cattle.

"We've been contacted by other states, including Nebraska most recently … they're looking at this with a great deal of interest and concern … they don't want to import brucellosis into their state," he said.

Logan said "other states may well impose some type of restraints on us," regardless of whether or not Wyoming keeps its brucellosis-free status.

"If Wyoming was to lose that status, it would mean … breeding cattle and test-eligible females would have to be tested prior to being moved across state lines and maybe prior to the sale of ownership," he said.

"And there will be direct costs to ranchers because cattle will have to be tested statewide," Logan said. "And there would be indirect costs in terms of work, stress to cattle and the wear and tear on the equipment."

Randy Bolgiano, President of the Green River Valley Cattleman's Association, said a "cooperative approach" is needed to combat brucellosis.

"The beef industry in this state is in this pickle together … but we are willing to be cooperative partners to resolve this and we need to look for positive solutions," he said.

"But we will not be zoned or redistricted or gerrymandered into cooperating. If we can't agree to seek solutions on an equal footing, then we might as well not even get started."

Feedgrounds

Many ranchers attending the meeting expressed concerns the brucellosis infection may have originated from infected elk that feed at nearby state-operated feedgrounds.

The Game and Fish Department vaccinates elk herds for brucellosis each year at 22 state feedgrounds located in western Wyoming. The transmission of brucellosis from elk to cattle, however, has not been confirmed under natural conditions.

Meredith Taylor, Yellowstone program director for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, said the brucellosis outbreak again shows the need for the Game and Fish Department to begin phasing out some feedgrounds in western Wyoming.

"I think this is a wake-up call for us … to address the vaccination of cattle in the short-term and the feedgrounds in the long-term," she said. "And it should serve as a wake-up call for when Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) gets to western Wyoming and into the feedground complex."

But Freudenthal said it was unlikely the Game and Fish would cease feeding elk anytime soon.

"I'm not prepared to say we're going to abolish those feedgrounds because there's an awful lot of pressure for them … I believe the answers aren't quite as clear cut as that," Freudenthal said.

"The problem is, if we retain our feedgrounds, then we concentrate elk and there's more transmission (of the disease) … but if we force elk off feedgrounds, then the disease is more dispersed and there's more chance to disperse the disease," the governor said.

"No matter how we vaccinate elk … the disease will be present," he said. "The feedgrounds are there now, we've got that concentration, the question now is what do we do. And I think the development of some type of successful vaccination program will be key to what we do."

The last outbreak of brucellosis in Wyoming was discovered in a herd of roughly 600 cattle near Baggs in 1990. The disease was traced to cattle shipped to the area from Nebraska.