On the Origin of Brucellosis in Bison of Yellowstone National Park: A Review

Abstract

Abstra~ Brucellosis caused by Brucella abortus occurs in the free-ranging bison (Bison bison) of Yellowstone and Wood Buffalo National Parks and in elk (Cervus elaphus) of the Greater Yellowstone Areg As a result of nationugde bovine brucellosis eradication programg states and provinces proximate to the national parks are considered free of bovine brucellosi& Thug increased attention has been focused on the wildlife within these areas us potenttal reservoirs for transmission to cattle Because the national parks are man. dated as natural area~ the question has been raised as to whether Bmcella abortus is endogenous or exogenous to bison, particularly for Yellowstone National Parl~ We synthesized diverse lines of inquiry, including the evolutionary history of both bison and Brucella, wild animals as Brucella host& biochemical and genetic information, behavioral characteristics of host and organisng and area history to develop an evaluation of the question for the National Park Service. All lines of inquiry indicated that the organism was introduced to North America with cattle~ and that the introduction into the Yellowstone bison probably was directly from cattle shortly before 1917. Fistulous withers of horses was a less likely possibllity. Elk on winter feedgrounds south of Yellowstone National Park apparently acquired the disease directly from cattle Bison presently using Grand Teton National Park probably acquired brucellosis from feedground elk Sobre el origen de la brucelosis en el bisonte del Parque Nacional Yellowstone: Una revisi6nResumen: La brucelosis causada por Brucella abortus afecta al btsonte (Bison bison) de los Parques Nacionales Yellowstone y "Wood Buffalo" y al alce (Cervus elaphus) de la Gran Area del Yellowstone Como resultado de programas de erradicaci6n de la brucelosis a 1o largo de toda la Naci6n, los estados y provincias pr6ximos a los parques nacionales son considerados como libres de brucelosis boring Como concecuencia de esto, se ha prestado mds atenci6n a la vida silvestre dentro de estas dreas como posibles resemo~os para la transmisibn de brucelosis al ganado. Dado que los parques nacionales son asignados por mandatos como dreas naturaleg ha surgldo el interds en determinar si Brucella abortus es end6gena o ex6gena al bisont~ en particular en lo que respecta al Parque Nacional Yellowstone Nosotros sintetizamos varias lineas de investigaci6n, que incluyen la historia evolativa tanto del bisonte como de Brucella, el estudio de animales saltctjes como portadores de Brucella,/a informacibn bioquimica y gen&tica~ las caracteristicas de comportamiento del portador y del organismo, y ia historia del drea a los efectos de desarrollar una evaluaci6n del problemapara el Servicio de Parques Nacionaleg Todas las lineas de investigaci6n indicaron que el organtsmo fue introducldo en Amdrica del Norte con el ganado, y que la transmisi6n al btsonte americano ocurri6 directamente a partir del ganado poco despues de 1917. La transmisi6n a partir de cru. zeras fistulosas de caballos fue una posibilida...

Status of Brucellosis in Free-Ranging Elk and Bison in Wyoming

“…Brucella abortus was probably introduced into North America with the importation of European domestic cattle (Meagher and Meyer, 1994). Brucellosis was first detected in wildlife in 1917 when Mohler diagnosed the disease in YNP bison (Mohler, 1917), an infection that likely originated through contact with infected cattle or from infected bovine milk fed to captive bison calves (Cheville et al, 1998).…”

Pathology of Brucellosis in Bison From Yellowstone National Park

“…Both YNP and WBNP received bison from a common source herd in the 1890s and early 1900s, respectively (Meagher and Meyer, 1994). However it is unknown when brucellosis was introduced to the bison in both parks.…”

Factors influencing farmers' concerns regarding bovine tuberculosis in wildlife and livestock around Riding Mountain National Park

“…Some diseases such as brucellosis continue to be a dominant issue after many decades, and affect elk and bison in Yellowstone (Meagher and Meyer, 1994) and bison in Wood Buffalo National Parks (Joly et al, 1998). Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has emerged as an important wildlife disease across North America (Miller, 2003) and farmers and rural communities in Canada are currently being devastated by a single occurrence of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) (Leiss, 2004).…”