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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The authors responsible for the report were chosen for their special competence and with regard for appropriate balance.
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The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
The project was supported by the Department of the Interior Cooperative Agreement No. 1443CA000197005. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 97-80670
International Standard Book Number 0-309-05989-5
Cover photographs: Dale R. McCullough, Berkeley, California
Copyright 1998 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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BRUCELLOSIS IN THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE AREA
NORMAN F. CHEVILLE, Principal Investigator, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
DALE R. MCCULLOUGH, Principal Investigator, University of California, Berkeley, California
LEE R. PAULSON, Project Director
NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Editor
KATHRINE IVERSON, Project Assistant/Information Specialist
STEPHANIE PARKER, Project Assistant
NORMAN F. CHEVILLE is Chair of the Department of Veterinary Pathology at Iowa State University. He received the DVM degree from Iowa State University (1959) and MS (1963) and Ph.D. (1964) from the University of Wisconsin. In 1968, he served a sabbatical year at the National Institute for Medical Research, London, studying under Anthony Allison. The honorary degree Doctor Honoris Causa was conferred by the University of Liège in 1986 for outstanding work in veterinary pathology. Dr. Cheville began his career at Army Biological Laboratory, Fort Detrick, Md., in the Veterinary Corps of the U.S. Army, 1959-61. After 3 years as research associate at the University of Wisconsin under Dr. Carl Olsen, he moved to the National Animal Disease Center as Chief of Pathology Research, 1964-89, and later as chief of the Brucellosis Research Unit, 1989-1995, during which he led the team that developed a new vaccine for bovine brucellosis. In 1995, he was appointed chair of the Department of Veterinary Pathology at Iowa State. Dr. Cheville has been Secretary-Treasurer and President of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists, President of the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Disease, and Editor of Veterinary Pathology. His honors include Outstanding Achievement Award, USDA, 1991; Distinguished Scientist Award, ARS, USDA, 1990; Alumni Merit Award, Iowa State University for "outstanding contributions to human welfare and professional accomplishment" in 1978. He has published more than 200 papers and 7 books.
DALE R. MCCULLOUGH is Professor of Wildlife Biology in the Ecosystem Sciences Division of the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management and Resource Conservation in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he holds the A. Starker Leopold endowed chair. He received his BS in wildlife management from South Dakota State University (1957), MS in wildlife management from Oregon State University (1960), and Ph.D. in Zoology from University of California, Berkeley
(1966). He was a Professor of Resource Ecology in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor from 1966 to 1979, and in 1980 he moved to his present position at the University of California. His research interests concern the behavior, ecology, conservation, and management of large mammals, in which he has endeavored to integrate new areas of conservation biology into traditional wildlife management approaches. He has spent sabbatical leaves in the outback of Australia studying three co-occurring species of kangaroos, and in Taiwan studying the elusive Reeves' muntjac, a small forest deer. He has served previously on three NAS/NRC committees reviewing wildlife management issues. He has published more than 100 papers and five books. Among his honors are three outstanding book of the year awards from the Wildlife Society and being named a distinguished alumnus by South Dakota State University and Oregon State University.
LEE R. PAULSON is Program Director for Resource Management in the Board on Environmental Sciences and Toxicology. She has served as project director or senior staff officer for numerous National Research Council studies, including Setting Priorities for Land Conservation, Hazardous Materials on the Public Lands, Animals as Sentinels of Environmental Health Hazards, The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence, and Monitoring Human Tissues for Toxic Substances.
BOARD ON AGRICULTURE
DALE E. BAUMAN, Chair,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
JOHN M. ANTLE,
Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana
SANDRA S. BATIE,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
MAY R. BERENBAUM,
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
LEONARD S. BULL,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
WILLIAM B. DELAUDER,
Delaware State University, Dover, Delaware
ANTHONY S. EARL,
Quarles & Brady, Madison, Wisconsin
ESSEX E. FINNEY JR.,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mitchellville, Maryland
CORNELIA FLORA,
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
GEORGE R. HALLBERG,
The Cadmus Group, Boston, Massachusetts
RICHARD R. HARWOOD,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
T. KENT KIRK,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
HARLEY W. MOON,
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
WILLIAM L. OGREN,
Hilton Head, South Carolina
GEORGE E. SEIDEL JR.,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
JOHN W. SUTTIE,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
JAMES J. ZUICHES,
Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
PAUL GILMAN, Executive Director
MICHAEL J. PHILLIPS, Director
SHIRLEY B. THATCHER, Administrative Assistant
BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
GORDON ORIANS, (Chair),
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
DONALD MATTISON, (Vice Chair),
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
MAY R. BERENBAUM,
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
EULA BINGHAM,
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
PAUL BUSCH,
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., White Plains, New York
GEORGE P. DASTON,
The Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio
PETER L. DEFUR,
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
DAVID L. EATON,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
DIANA FRECKMAN,
Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado
ROBERT A. FROSCH,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
MARK HARWELL,
University of Miami, Miami, Florida
BARBARA HULKA,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
DANIEL KREWSKI,
Health & Welfare Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
RAYMOND C. LOEHR,
The University of Texas, Austin, Texas
JAMES A. MACMAHON,
Utah State University, Logan, Utah
MARIO J. MOLINA,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
WARREN MUIR,
Hampshire Research Institute, Alexandria, Virginia
GEOFFREY PLACE,
Hilton Head, South Carolina
MARGARET STRAND,
Bayh, Connaughton and Malone, Washington, D.C.
BAILUS WALKER, JR.,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
GERALD N. WOGAN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
TERRY F. YOSIE,
Ruder Finn Inc., Washington, D.C.
Senior Staff
JAMES J. REISA, Director
DAVID J. POLICANSKY, Associate Director and Program Director for Applied Ecology
CAROL A. MACZKA, Program Director for Toxicology and Risk Assessment
LEE R. PAULSON, Program Director for Resource Management
RAYMOND A. WASSEL, Program Director for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
KULBIR BAKSHI, Program Director for the Committee on Toxicology
COMMISSION ON LIFE SCIENCES
THOMAS D. POLLARD, (Chair),
The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California
FREDERICK R. ANDERSON,
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Washington, D.C.
JOHN C. BAILAR III,
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
PAUL BERG,
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
JOANNA BURGER,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey
SHARON L. DUNWOODY,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
JOHN EMMERSON,
Portland, Oregon
NEAL FIRST,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
URSULA GOODENOUGH,
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
HENRY HEIKKINEN,
University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado
HANS J. KENDE,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
CYNTHIA KENYON,
University of California, San Francisco, California
DAVID LIVINGSTON,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
THOMAS E. LOVEJOY,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
DONALD R. MATTISON,
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
JOSEPH E. MURRAY,
Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts
EDWARD E. PENHOET,
Chiron Corporation, Emeryville, California
MALCOLM C. PIKE,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
JONATHAN M. SAMET,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
CHARLES F. STEVENS,
The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California
JOHN L. VANDEBERG,
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Texas
PAUL GLIMAN, Executive Director
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) has been the subject of much debate and national attention. In the conduct of this study, we had the opportunity to hear many views and deeply held convictions. But at the heart of the controversy over bison management is the need for a solid scientific underpinning. To that end, we directed our efforts to identifying current research and reviewing previous research. We made every effort to represent accurately consensus views of researchers and other experts. It is our hope that this report will provide a basis for future endeavors related to managing brucellosis in the GYA and that science can be melded with policy to resolve many of the difficult issues faced by the governmental parties involved in brucellosis management. Each entity has been faced with pressures to act in the best interests of their commercial or recreational users. We further hope that this report will provide a beginning for use of emerging technology to develop a plan appropriate to the task, and one that is in best interests of the nation.
We are deeply grateful to the many colleagues who have contributed data for the manuscript during its development. A great many people have been most generous in providing us with much data, information, and observations on brucellosis, on the Greater Yellowstone Area, and on a wide variety of animals and their behavior. We wish to acknowledge in particular Drs. Steven Olsen (USDA), Mitchell Palmer, Jack Rhyan (USDA), and Beth Williams (University of Wyoming) for contributing data, graphs, and photographs of brucellosis in bison. The perspective of Mary Meagher, who has spent a lifetime with bison, was invaluable. Tom Thorne and Terry Kreeger, of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, whose studies of diseases of wildlife and initiative in organizing the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Commission, were responsible for much of our practical understanding of brucellosis in elk of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The work of the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee, particularly under the influence of Drs. Dan Huff and Bob Hillman, was crucial to our understanding of the cooperation and compromise that will be required to solve this brucellosis dilemma. Data obtained from the current bison study in the YNP by Keith Aune (Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and
Parks), Peter Gogan (U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division), Jack Rhyan, Tom Roffe (USGS, BRD), and Mark Taper (Montana State University, Bozeman) gave great insight into where we are going with brucellosis in Bison bison.
Additional thanks and appreciation are due to Joel Berger, University of Nevada, Reno; Mark Boyce, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point; Wayne Brewster, Yellowstone National Park; Steve Cain, Grand Teton National Park; Franz Camenzind, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Wyoming; Andrew Clark, State Veterinarian, Oregon; Ron Cole, Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Oregon; Walt Cook, University of Wyoming; Lynette Corbeil, University of California San Diego; Don Davis and James Derr, Texas A & M University; Phil Elzer and Fred Enright, Louisiana State University; Darla Ewalt, USDA, APHIS; Phillip Farnes, Snowcap Hydrology, Bozeman, Montana; Elmer Finck, Emporia State University, Kansas; Robert Garrott, Montana State University, Bozeman; Eric Gese, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado; Mike Gilsdorf, USDA, APHIS; Scott Grothe, Montana State University, Bozeman; Sam Holland, State Veterinarian, South Dakota; Tom Lemke, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks; John Linnell, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research; Paul Nicoletti, Florida State University; Richard Ockenfels, Arizona Game and Fish Department; Rolf Peterson, Michigan Technological University, Houghton; Paul Rebich, Bigsky Beefalo, Montana; David Sands, Montana State University; D. J. Schubert, The Fund for Animals, Meyer & Glitzenstein, Washington, D. C.; Steve Sheffield, Clemson University; Bruce Smith, National Elk Refuge, Wyoming; Scott Smith, Wyoming Game and Fish Department; M. Stewart, USDA, APHIS; Ken Taylor, Alaska Department of Fish and Game; John Weaver, Wildlife Conservation Society; and Randall Zarnke, Alaska Department of Game and Fish, Fairbanks.
Several persons gave their of their time and expertise to review this document, and we thank them for their critical input: Beverly Byrum, Ohio Department of Agriculture, Reynoldsburg; Franz Camenzind, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Wyoming; Robert Ehlenfeldt, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Madison; Will Garner, Logan, Utah; Burke Healey, State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City; Daniel Jarboe, Ft. Detrick, Maryland; R. Langford, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.; Robert Mead, Washington Department of Agriculture, Olympia; Gordon Orians, Seattle, Washington; David Pascual, Montana State University, Bozeman; Duncan Patten, Bozeman, Montana; George Seidel, Colorado State, Ft. Collins; Morton Swartz, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Steve Torbit, National Wildlife Federation Rocky Mountain Natural Resources Center, Boulder; Fred Wagner, Utah State.
We are also grateful to Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt for making this work possible, as well as administrators and scientists within the National Park System of the U. S. Department of Interior, and in the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Special thanks are owed to Margaret Jaeger and Thomas Kucera for their dedicated work in gathering information from scattered sources and preparation of the manuscript. Special thanks also are due to Kathy lverson for arranging meetings,
logistics, and travel and to Stephanie Parker, who designed and crafted the web page to keep the public informed of project progress.
And finally, it has been our good fortune to work with Lee Paulson as project director—incisive, enthusiastic, highly literate, and up-front, she brought to the project the capacity to shift rapidly through conflicting opinions to identify and focus on essential items.
Norman F. Cheville
Dale R. McCullough