Bitterroot Elk Test Negative for Brucellosis Exposure

Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Fish & Wildlife – Region 2

Brucellosis exposure was not detected in blood drawn from 43 elk in the East and West Forks of the Bitterroot Valley last month. The tested elk are part of a three-year study to evaluate factors affecting elk survival in the Bitterroot.

Although brucellosis prevalence is not the focus of the Bitterroot study, researchers tested for this and other diseases as part of the health analysis of each animal. Blood samples were sent to the Montana Department of Livestock Laboratory for testing.

Brucellosis is a contagious bacterial infection in domestic animals, wildlife and humans worldwide. Brucellosis can cause pregnant cattle, bison, and elk to abort their calves.

The closest recently confirmed cases of the disease in elk were documented in the Ruby Valley, northeast of Dillon, in February and in parts of Idaho.

Over the past 30 years, FWP tested about 8,000 elk for brucellosis exposure, mostly in the Greater Yellowstone Area north and west of the national park. The results of those tests showed brucellosis exposure rates that ranged from 0 to 2 percent in the early 1990s. Depending on the testing technique used, more recent positive exposure rates ranged between five and 16 percent in areas north of Gardiner and on the east side of the Madison Valley.

Tagged as: elk hunting, Montana Elk