The following article is portion of an article from the Helena Air:
by Nick Gevock of The Montana Standard
A spokesman for media mogul Ted Turner confirmed Wednesday that a bull bison on the Snowcrest Ranch in the Upper Ruby Valley tested positive for brucellosis last month.
Russ Miller, general manager for Turner’s western ranches, when contacted by The Montana Standard, said the bull bison was the only animal from the herd that tested positive for the disease. He said the animal was destroyed.
Miller added that they were always open about the infection and encouraged the Montana Department of Livestock to release the information about the ranch.
“We had one positive animal on the ranch and we tested the entire herd,” Miller said. “It’s not unexpected when you’re in the designated surveillance area (for brucellosis), which was created for a reason.”
Last month state veterinarian Marty Zaluski announced that a bull animal on a Madison County ranch had tested positive for the disease, which can cause females to abort their young. Zaluski would not release the species of animal or the location of the ranch other than to say it was in Madison County.
He was complying with a law passed by the 2011 Legislature that requires the state to keep information revealing specific ranchers found to have an animal with the disease confidential.
The Montana Standard challenged Zaluski to release the information, but had not received a reply as of Wednesday.
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Source: Helena Air
Posted by Haylie Shipp
