Brucellosis is a nationally and internationally regulated disease of livestock with significant consequences for animal health, public health, and international trade. In cattle, the primary cause of brucellosis is Brucella abortus, a zoonotic bacterial pathogen that also affects wildlife, including bison and elk. As a result of the Brucellosis Eradication Program that began in 1934, most of the country is now free of bovine brucellosis. The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA), where brucellosis is endemic in bison and elk, is the last known B. abortus reservoir in the United States. The GYA is home to more than 5,500 bison that are the genetic descendants of the original free-ranging bison herds that survived in the early 1900s, and home to more than 125,000 elk whose habitats are managed through interagency efforts, including the National Elk Refuge and 22 supplemental winter feedgrounds maintained in Wyoming. In 1998 the National Research Council (NRC) issued a report, Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area, that reviewed the scientific knowledge regarding B. abortus transmission among wildlife–particularly bison and elk–and cattle in the GYA. Since the release of the 1998 report, brucellosis has re-emerged in domestic cattle and bison herds in that area. Given the scientific and technological advances in two decades since that first report, Revisiting Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area explores the factors associated with the increased transmission of brucellosis from wildlife to livestock, the recent apparent expansion of brucellosis in non-feedground elk, and the desire to have science inform the course of any future actions in addressing brucellosis in the GYA.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• COMMITTEE ON REVISITING BRUCELLOSIS IN THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE AREA
• BOARD ON AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
• Reviewers
• Preface
• Summary
  • BACKGROUND
  • SCOPE AND APPROACH TO THE REVIEW
  • CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
  • CONCLUDING REMARKS
• 1. Introduction
  • 1. BACKGROUND
  • 2. THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE AREA
  • 3. ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLEXITY OF THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE AREA
  • 4. PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY
  • 5. APPROACH TO THE TASK
  • 6. ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
  • REFERENCES
• 2. Geographic Scope of Populations and Disease and Change in Land Use
  • 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 2. ELK POPULATIONS AND DISTRIBUTIONS
  • 3. CHANGES IN LAND USE AND CONSEQUENCES FOR ELK
  • 4. BISON POPULATIONS AND DISTRIBUTIONS
  • 5. LIVESTOCK
  • 6. IMPLICATIONS OF CHANGING CLIMATE FOR ELK AND BISON
  • 7. SUMMARY
  • REFERENCES
• 3. Ecology and Epidemiology of Brucella abortus in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
  • 1. REVIEW OF BRUCELLOSIS CASES SINCE 1998
  • 2. DISEASE DYNAMICS IN BISON AND ELK
  • 3. EFFECTS OF POPULATION SIZE AND AGGREGATION ON BISON AND ELK TRANSMISSION
  • 4. SUPPLEMENTAL FEEDGROUNDS
  • 5. POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF PREDATORS AND SCAVENGERS ON BRUCELLOSIS
  • 6. EFFECT OF DISEASE ON BISON AND ELK POPULATIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 4. Scientific Progress and New Research Tools
  • 1. INFECTION BIOLOGY AND PATHOGENESIS OF B. ABORTUS IN CATTLE, BISON, AND ELK
  • 2. DIAGNOSTICS
  • 3. COMMERCIAL VACCINES IN WILDLIFE
  • 4. NEW SCIENTIFIC TOOLS INFORMING BRUCELLOSIS INFECTION BIOLOGY, PATHOGENESIS, AND VACCINOLOGY
  • 5. CONCLUSION
  • REFERENCES
• 5. Federal, State, and Regional Management Efforts
  • 1. BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF BRUCELLOSIS CONTROL EFFORTS
  • 2. CHANGES IN STATUS AND CLASSIFICATION OF STATES
  • 3. REGIONAL AND NATIONAL CONTROL PROGRAMS
  • 4. INTERAGENCY COOPERATIVE BODIES
  • 5. SURVEILLANCE
  • 6. BISON SEPARATION AND QUARANTINE
  • 7. COSTS OF PROGRAMS
  • REFERENCES
• 6. Adaptive Management
  • 1. DEFINING ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT
  • 2. ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT IN THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE AREA: CASE STUDIES
  • REFERENCES
• 7. Management Options
  • 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 2. INCENTIVIZING RISK MITIGATION EFFORTS
  • 3. USE OF FEEDGROUNDS
  • 4. HUNTING OF WILDLIFE
  • 5. LAND USE
  • 7. ZONING USING DESIGNATED SURVEILLANCE AREAS
  • 8. TEST AND REMOVE
  • 9. VACCINES AND DELIVERY SYSTEMS FOR CATTLE, BISON, AND ELK
  • 10. STERILIZATION AND CONTRACEPTIVES
  • 11. PREDATION AND SCAVENGERS
  • REFERENCES
• 8. Economic Issues in Managing Brucellosis
  • 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 2. BIOECONOMIC FRAMEWORK
  • 3. ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY IN A DYNAMIC, COUPLED SYSTEM
  • 4. PROMOTING PRIVATE DISEASE CONTROL EFFORTS
  • 5. SUMMARY
  • REFERENCES
• 9. Remaining Gaps for Understanding and Controlling Brucellosis
  • 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 2. DISEASE ECOLOGY
  • 3. ECONOMICS
  • 4. IMMUNOLOGY
  • 5. VACCINES AND DELIVERY MECHANISMS
  • 6. GENOTYPING AND GENETICS
  • 7. DIAGNOSTICS
  • REFERENCES
• 10. Overall Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations
  • 1. WHAT'S NEW SINCE 1998?
  • 2. ADOPTING AN ACTIVE ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT APPROACH
  • 3. ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT OPTIONS TO REDUCE RISK
  • 4. BIOECONOMICS: A FRAMEWORK FOR MAKING DECISIONS
  • 5. A CALL TO STRATEGIC ACTION
  • 6. RESEARCH AGENDA
  • 7. CONCLUDING REMARKS
  • REFERENCES
• Appendix A. Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
• Appendix B. Open Session Meeting Agendas

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Revisiting Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24750.

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/24750

Additional copies of this publication are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

Printed in the United States of America

Cover photo courtesy of Mark Gocke, Wyoming Game & Fish Department.