Cattle herd officially designated as "brucellosis infected"

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has formally designated a Sublette County cattle herd as "brucellosis infected," Wyoming State Veterinarian Dr. Jim Logan announced late Monday afternoon. The designation from the federal Animal Plant Health Inspection Service affects a cattle herd that was detected with brucellosis earlier this month.

According to Logan, the designation sets in motion a timeline of events that must be met in order for the state to retain its brucellosis-free status. Those events include the branding and tagging of cattle with positive serologic test results, the de-population of all sexually intact cattle in the herd, testing of all contact herds, and tracing of all cattle which have left the herd.

"I am confident that we can expect to meet all criteria within the required time period," Dr. Logan said. "Meeting the criteria will help retain our beef marketability with other states."

Governor Dave Freudenthal said that the designation "comes as no surprise, and is an appropriate response to the situation."

He noted the state of Wyoming "is committed to isolating brucellosis and maintaining our state's brucellosis-free status."