Recommended Actions Needed to Eliminate Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area

brucellosis eradication task force
resolution and position statement

Recommended Actions Needed to Eliminate Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area

POSITION STATEMENT: The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) supports legislation that would give USDA primary authority to eliminate brucellosis in bison and elk and would require cooperation of the Department of Interior, National Park Service including:

(i) the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee (GYIBC) made up of representatives of state and federal agencies; any committee recommendation should be scientifically sound and defensible by accepted principles of veterinary epidemiology and pathogenesis of brucellosis in ruminants;

(ii) gathering, sharing and analysis of current information, both published and unpublished, regarding comparative microbiology, immunology and epidemiology of brucellosis in wild and domestic ruminants;

(iii) using all current technologies for brucellosis control and elimination to begin implementation immediately of a scientifically sound program oriented toward elimination of brucellosis from herds of bison and elk in the Greater Yellowstone Area;

(iv) prevention of removal of bison from national parks in Greater Yellowstone Area, except direct to slaughter, approved research facility, or through quarantine facilities and testing protocols developed by APHIS Veterinary Services, to insure that the animals are disease free, and in no way compromise the progress made toward complete elimination of brucellosis from the U.S.

Reprinting of this resolution is encouraged.