Bison death toll climbs to 175 in Flying D anthrax situation

 By Andy Malby, editor

Still no public health threat, officials claim



Bison continued to die this week from exposure to naturally-occurring anthrax on media mogul Ted Turner’s Flying D Ranch in the Spanish Peaks, with the death toll reaching 175 by Thursday, a state livestock official said.

And though that number is more than double Monday’s death toll, the situation is under control and continues to be “of minimal concern to public health,” state Department of Livestock public information officer Steve Merritt said.

“The risk in this particular situation to other livestock is minimal, he said. “The risk to human health in this situation is even less than that — it’s very minimal. This is not an unusual thing.”

Even so, the area remained under quarantine and Spanish Creek Road remained closed through the Flying D Thursday, by order of the Gallatin County Commission.

Commissioners said Thursday they would like to reopen the road, which provides access to National Forest lands, as soon as possible. But the county will cooperate with the Department of Livestock quarantine.

“I want to lift it just as soon as we can, but we told DOL we are going to work with them,” Commissioner Joe Skinner said. “We’re told the health risk to the public is very minimal, but there is a risk with horses — it is a quarantine area.

“I guess the message I sent DOL is we’re going to work with them but we’re going to want to open it as soon we can, as soon as buffalo stop dying, which they haven’t yet,” Skinner added. “As far as I’m concerned we’re not at that point where it would be wise for us to open the road.”

Spanish Creek Road passes through a 9-mile stretch of the Flying D, including parts of the 13,000-acre pasture where the outbreak occurred, county officials have said.

According to County Commissioner Bill Murdock, electric fencing is in place in that pasture adjacent to parts of the road.

And according to Merritt, the area is actively being decontaminated.

“It’s a burn or bury protocol,” he said, meaning that dead bison are either buried or burned and the ground where they fell is disinfected.

“Bleach — Clorox bleach” — applied with agricultural sprayers, is the preferred method for decontaminating the soil, Merritt said.

Anthrax is caused by naturally occurring bacteria, according to DOL. It is frequently present where cattle and other animals are found. Spores of the bacteria can lie dormant in the soil for decades then become active under certain climatic or ecologic changes such as heavy rains or flooding preceded by drought.

Animals are exposed to the disease by grazing, drinking water or eating forage contaminated with the spores.

Untreated animals may die within a day or two of exposure, and one or more animals are typically found dead without any recognition of early signs of the disease, which include labored breathing, staggering, unconsciousness and convulsions, according to DOL.

The bacteria is fragile and easily killed with common disinfectants or exposure to moderate temperatures, “and as such, poses virtually no risk to the food chain,” according to the DOL release.

As for livestock, vaccines work as a preventative measure and long-term antibiotics work when the disease has been confirmed or is suspected.

Merritt said there is no way to tell how many of Turner’s 3,000-plus bison herd may have been exposed, but it is not believed all of the animals will perish.

“We don’t have any animals how many animals were potentially affected,” he said. “There’s 3,000 in that particular herd. That’s not to say all 3,000 have been exposed or anything. We don’t have a number.”

He added that anthrax outbreaks among domestic ungulate herds are relatively common.

“It’s an unfortunate situation, but a standard protocol thing at this point,” he said. “I don’t want to downplay this because anytime a producer loses livestock it’s a pretty big deal to that producer, but all things considered this is not that big of a deal for Montana’s livestock industry.”

Merritt said he continues to field media calls, though the outbreak was discovered more than a week ago, and said the word “anthrax” seems to be somewhat misunderstood.

“I guess maybe it’s alarming because it’s anthrax and people have read about anthrax,” he said. “But this has absolutely nothing to do with the anthrax you read about in the paper with bio-warfare and all that kind of stuff. This is just a naturally occurring thing that pops up every once in a while.”

Plus, he acknowledged, Turner’s celebrity is playing into the story.

“That’s something else that adds some news value to it; these are Ted Turner’s animals,” he said. “But I have to say, this land owner and his ranch manager and all the people out there on the ranch have done everything they could possibly do.

“We’re blessed in Montana to have really good livestock producers anyway, in regard to disease control, but these guys have gone above and beyond the call; they’ve really taken it seriously and done everything they could possibly do to get this thing contained, and I can’t say enough about their efforts,” he added.