Brucellosis found in bison on Ted Turner ranch

Striken cow has been killed, two others suspected of infection held in quarantine

Published November 1, 2010 11:20PM (EDT)

State officials in Montana say the bacterial disease brucellosis (brew-suh-LOW'-sis) has been found in a domestic bison herd on Ted Turner's ranch near Bozeman.

The Montana Department of Livestock says the disease was found in a 7-year-old cow and is suspected in two other bison.

Agency spokesman Steve Merritt said Monday the cow has been killed and the other two have been quarantined pending test results.

Merritt says the herd is separate from 86 Yellowstone National Park bison that Turner took in last year, and those bison are disease-free.

Brucellosis can cause pregnant bison, cattle and elk to abort their fetuses. The last reported infection in Montana was in a cattle herd in 2008.

The agency says an investigation is under way to determine the origin of the infection on Turner's ranch.


By Associated Press

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