Wildlife Health is Important to Livestock Production

By Arden Wohlers DVM
Extension Veterinarian
University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Education Center

With the increased movement of goods and people around the world, the chance of spreading animal disease has also increased. An animal disease from one country can easily spread to a country where animals have no natural resistance. Many diseases are endemic in the wildlife of some countries and are capable of entering the livestock population. Diseases that are able to jump the livestock/wildlife interface would be devastating in the United States if our livestock has never encountered them and has no natural immunity. There are already many diseases in our own wildlife and domestic livestock that can jump from one species to another by direct contact or by contamination of the environment.

As animal agriculture has become more directed at concentrating animals in smaller areas, it has simultaneously increased the chance of spreading disease from animal to animal. Animal concentration has occurred in both livestock production and wildlife farming allowing specific diseases to become established in their respective populations. Some diseases that are a challenge at the livestock/ wildlife interface are regionally located in the United States but could easily migrate to other areas. Every livestock producer and wildlife manager needs to have an awareness of interspecies disease transmission and the biosecurity measures that are needed to reduce the chances of transmission. Some diseases were common in domesticated animals at one time before being transmitted to wildlife. Through disease control methods the disease has been eradicated or has a very low incidence in livestock. However, the disease is now endemic in wildlife and posses a continual threat to reenter the livestock population.

An example of this situation happened in Michigan, where bovine tuberculosis was eliminated in cattle in 1975. But it remained in the white-tailed deer population and reentered the cattle population in 1998. Since then millions of dollars have been spent to once more eliminate the disease and assure Michigan’s trading partners that their animals and products are safe. A similar situation occurred in Wyoming where the cattle herds had been free of Brucellosis for years, but the bison and elk herds of the Yellowstone area became infected by cattle and therefore remained a reservoir for the disease. Brucellosis did spread from bison and elk and reentered the cattle population. There are ongoing efforts to bring the situation under control. Both bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis are diseases that can infect people so it is critical that these efforts are successful.

Intestinal diseases such as Salmonella, E. coli, Cryptosporidia, and Giardia can pass from one animal species to another (including humans). Separating species, dispersing animals and sanitation measures can aid in their control. Big Horn sheep can die from Pasturella pneumonia that they picked up from domestic sheep. Evidence shows that cattle can be infected with Bluetongue Virus, Bovine Diarrhea Virus and Malignant Catarrhal Fever if associated with wildlife disease carriers. The list of interspecies diseases also includes Rabies, Foot and Mouth Disease, Leptosporosis, Anthrax, Plague, Hanta virus, Anaplasmosis, Pink Eye, parasites, ringworm and many more. It is important that wildlife biologists and the livestock industry work together to keep the respective populations as healthy as possible to protect our livestock from diseases carried by wildlife and vice versa.

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