How to translate text using browser tools
1 January 2019 Potential Bacillus anthracis Risk Zones for Male Plains Bison (Bison bison bison) in Southwestern Montana, USA
Dawn M. Nekorchuk, Lillian R. Morris, Valpa Asher, David L. Hunter, Sadie J. Ryan, Jason K. Blackburn
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

A re-emergence of anthrax, a zoonosis caused by the long-lived, spore-forming Bacillus anthracis, occurred with a multispecies outbreak in southwestern Montana, US in 2008. It substantially impacted a managed herd of about 3,500 free-ranging plains bison (Bison bison bison) on a large, private ranch southwest of Bozeman, with about 8% mortality and a disproportionate 28% mortality of mature males; a similar high rate occurred in male Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis nelson). Grazing herbivores are particularly at risk for anthrax from ingesting sporecontaminated soil and grasses in persistent environmental reservoirs. We predicted areas of mature male bison habitat preference on the landscape by using GPS collar data and a resource selection function model using environmental covariates. We overlaid preferred areas with ecologic niche, model-based predictions of B. anthracis environmental reservoirs to identify areas of high anthrax risk. Overlapping areas were distributed across the ranch and were not confined to pastures associated with the previous outbreak, suggesting that ongoing pasture exclusion alone will not prevent future outbreaks. The data suggested vaccination campaigns should continue for bison, and the results can be used to prioritize carcass surveillance in areas of greatest overlap.

© Wildlife Disease Association 2019
Dawn M. Nekorchuk, Lillian R. Morris, Valpa Asher, David L. Hunter, Sadie J. Ryan, and Jason K. Blackburn "Potential Bacillus anthracis Risk Zones for Male Plains Bison (Bison bison bison) in Southwestern Montana, USA," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 55(1), 136-141, (1 January 2019). https://doi.org/10.7589/2017-09-234
Received: 24 September 2017; Accepted: 18 May 2018; Published: 1 January 2019
KEYWORDS
anthrax
Bacillus anthracis
bison
resource selection
southwestern Montana
transmission risk
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top