Trapping Efforts In Upper Snake Region Reveal Extremely Low Exposure Of Elk To Brucellosis

SWAN VALLEY - Brucellosis, Bang's disease, and Undulant fever are different names for the same thing. The name changes depending on whom the Brucella bacteria have infected. In wild animals such as elk and bison it is called Brucellosis. When cattle are affected it is called Bang's disease in honor of the Danish Scientist who studied it. If a human gets it, then it is called Undulant fever, a painful and sometimes fatal affliction. It is a disease that originally started in domestic livestock and then jumped to wild animals. It was just a little over a year ago that the last known case of Brucellosis was finally eradicated from domestic livestock in America. Today, the last challenge to eradication is the elimination of the disease from wild animals in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. As part of the effort to monitor and hopefully check the spread of the disease, IDFG in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Agriculture, once again this year are trapping wintering elk to check for exposure to the disease. While there has been a great deal of success with a new test called the Fluorescent Polarization Assay (FPA) in determining whether an individual bison or cattle have been infected with Brucellosis, attempts to calibrate the test for use on elk in Idaho have not yet been successful. The current tests only indicate whether an elk has been exposed to Brucellosis. According to Regional Wildlife Manager Brad Compton, "So far this year we have tested 101 animals in Rainey and Conant creeks and only three have shown signs of being infected with Brucellosis. One of these animals was a two and a half year-old male, considered incapable of spreading the disease. Samples from all lab tests conducted in the field have been sent to the Idaho State Department of Agriculture lab in Boise, for verification. According to Compton, "Conditions are such that we are just about finished for this year. In addition to trapping and testing, IDFG once again used hunters to collect blood samples from elk harvested in areas suspected to harbor exposed animals. IDFG received 682 samples, of which unfortunately 463 were unusable because the hemoglobin in the blood had separated out. Of the remaining 217 samples only two were positive, and only one of those was from the Upper Snake Region!