How Effective is a Vaccine for Brucellosis?
Brucellosis in Greater Yellowstone bison and elk has caused controversy for years. Brucellosis has been eradicated from cattle in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, and all three states are now classified as brucellosis free in terms of livestock. Yet free-ranging elk that use feeding grounds in the Greater Yellowstone area, and bison in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, still have high serum levels of the disease and are seen as a threat to the state-federal cooperative national brucellosis eradication program. Cattle in eastern Idaho were recently diagnosed with brucellosis, with transmission of the disease apparently from fed elk. The Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee, formed of state and federal agencies involved in wildlife and livestock management in the three states, is committed to eventual elimination of the disease from wildlife, yet management tools to control or eliminate the disease are limited. Wildlife vaccination is one of the methods now used, b
