Brucellosis Found in Montana Cow

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana officials say an animal disease carried by wildlife in and around Yellowstone National Park has been found in a Madison County cattle herd. State veterinarian Marty Zaluski said Thursday that brucellosis was found in one cow from the unidentified herd. He says it's the sixth such case in livestock since 1985. The disease can cause infected animals to suffer miscarriages. Once relatively common across the U.S, brucellosis has been largely eradicated but persists in herds of bison and elk in the Yellowstone area of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. In the past, brucellosis infections triggered sanctions against the states where the disease was found. But the federal government has since eased those rules. Montana has designated a four-county "surveillance area" with heightened testing requirements that includes Madison County.