Friday, November 14, 1997

Brucellosis vaccine for cattle may work for bison

By J.T. Smith / Abilene Reporter-News

Ranchers and veterinarians have done a great job over many years of greatly reducing brucellosis disease from most of the nation's cattle herds.

A new vaccine for brucellosis in cattle also shows promise in protecting bison against the contagious disease.

The buffalo and elk are the last major sources of brucellosis in the United States.

Brucellosis disease is caused by the bacterium, Brucella abortus, and it causes abortions in beef and dairy cattle. It also lessens fertility and reduces milk production.

The disease cost the U.S. beef and dairy industry about $30 million annually. But that's nothing like it was 20 or 25 years when the disease cost the nation's cattle industry titanic amounts of money.

Scientists with USDA's Agricultural Research Service have been checking the newest official vaccine containing B. abortus strain RB51 for its effectiveness and safety in bison.

Results on buffalo

In an experiment at ARS' National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa, scientists vaccinated 10 female bison calves donated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The vaccinated bisons' immune response was comparable to that of cattle vaccinated with RB51.

In earlier studies, ARS scientists showed that RB51 protects cattle against brucellosis and that vaccinated animals don't show false signs of infection in blood tests.

Based on USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service conditionally approved the new vaccine for the use in cattle.

None of the RB51-vaccinated bison shed the live bacterium into the environment. This demonstrates the biosafety of the vaccine in bison and also shows it helps prevent accidental exposure to other wildlife. Moose -- for instance -- can die if infected with the virulent strains of B. abortus. ARS and APHIS researchers are monitoring bison in Yellowstone National Park to study how brucellosis is transmitted among free-living bison and elk.

Humans can get brucellosis from handling infected carcasses at slaughter or from infected cows during calving.

But in humans, the disease isn't called brucellosis -- it's known as undulant fever. It produces flu-like symptoms.

Consumption of unpasteurized milk and dairy products also can cause undulant fever.

Texas crops to set records

Despite some problems in certain areas, the Texas peanut crop is expected to be 11 percent above last year.

The November estimate pegs the state's peanut crop at a record 767 million pounds. A lot of nuts.

Statewide, the peanut yield also is projected at a record of 2,600 pounds per acre.

The crop comes off of 295,000 acres of peanut for harvest.

While irrigated peanuts have done extremely well, some dryland peanuts suffered in areas that lacked timely rainfall this season.

Meanwhile, the Texas Agricultural Statistics Service says the bumper crop will reach 5.4 million bales. The November estimate remained the same as the October estimate, so the crop observers aren't backing off their projection of a big Texas cotton harvest.

If the TASS estimate is on target, that's 24 percent greater than last year's Texas cotton crop.

The crop in the Abilene region is the best in several years, but much was still in the fields when this latest round of cold and moisture arrived.

It won't surprise this farm writer to see area farmers busily harvesting cotton at Christmas or beyond this season.