Schweitzer’s letter on brucellosis

By Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer - 06/27/2008

June 11, 2008 Dear Friend of Montana’s Livestock Industry: As you know by now, increased testing in the Paradise Valley has yielded a second case of brucellosis in the state, which means Montana will be downgraded from “class free” status to “class A” status within a matter of weeks. Livestock producers will now be required to test bulls and non-spayed females 18 months or older, 30 days prior to interstate movement.

I assure you that I will do everything in my power to see that Montana regains its class free status as quickly as possible, and that we keep it. We can apply to regain status one year from the date the last reactor was destroyed, or May 27, 2009. At that time, USDA will conduct its review and hopefully restore the state’s status.

I have been advocating for a better brucellosis management strategy since taking office. I began in the spring of 2006 to call for a solution that would prevent the entire state from losing its brucellosis status if another case turned up in the area next to Yellowstone. I feared that without the creation of a small, separate management zone immediately around the Park, increased testing would result in Montana suffering the same fate as Idaho and Wyoming, which lost their disease-free status.

In May 2007, Montana’s first case was discovered in a Bridger cattle herd, resulting in the destruction of 585 animals. Again, I offered the idea of a small, separate management zone. I requested a meeting with USDA, and was encouraged to learn that they could provide for “split-state status,” in the area immediately surrounding the Park. It would have involved increased testing and other precautionary measures. Less than 5 percent of Montana’s cattle or land area would have been affected.

Plenty of misinformation and division surrounded this split-state status idea. I asked the Montana Board of Livestock to work with the livestock industry to consider an appropriate course of action. The Montana Cattleman’s Association supported the idea of split-state status, while the lobbyists and leadership of the Montana Stockgrowers Association continued to mischaracterize the idea, generating pockets of intense opposition.

It was my hope that all of Montana’s livestock industry would work proactively with the Board of Livestock to address the situation. If we had laid the groundwork for split-state status last year, the entire state’s cattle industry would not now be subject to loss of class free status. Recently, some have claimed that Montana during the past year couldn’t have implemented split-state status in this small area quickly enough to prevent our present statewide loss of status. I find that hard to believe, considering that to begin to regain our status we will now have to implement statewide measures in only a matter of weeks.

A compilation of news articles, correspondence with USDA, and other documents relating to split-state status can be found at: http://www.governor.mt.gov/brucellosis/brucellosislinks.asp Looking forward, Montana will continue to manage the risk of brucellosis transmission, but as I have been saying, we need better tools. While we do not yet know for certain, it appears that the likely source of transmission in the current case was again through elk. The good news so far is that all other animals in the herd have tested negative, but we must now continue the test-out with any contact herds.

Together, with Montana’s US Senators, we are intent on accelerating vaccine research for the elimination of the disease. With the recently negotiated Royal Teton Ranch grazing agreement, we have eliminated the risk of transmission from what was the largest, closest cattle herd. We need to make adaptive changes to the Interagency Bison Management Plan so that it can become an effective tool. We will also continue to press USDA for more sensible solutions, including necessary changes to federal disease management regulations. Federal regulations in place right now were created to deal with disease in cattle on a herd-to-herd basis, and obviously have little practical application to the complex nature of disease management when the reservoir is wildlife.

The beef industry is near to my heart. It has been so, in my family and yours, likely for generations. The health of Montana’s industry—and especially the quality of its genetics—is just as dear to Montana’s economy. Side by side, we will continue to ensure it remains strong.

Sincerely, BRIAN SCHWEITZER Governor