A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: Tue 9 Feb 2010
Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) News, Northwest News Network
(NNN) report [edited]
Washington wildlife officials to cull bighorn sheep herd for disease
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Washington State's fish and wildlife officials plan to kill about 85
bighorn sheep from 2 pneumonia-infected herds [sic]. The animals
range between Yakima and Ellensburg. As Anna King reports, wildlife
managers are hoping that culling the sick animals now, will save the
rest of the Northwest herds.
Pneumonia in bighorn sheep is nearly always fatal. Those that survive
often pass the disease on to their vulnerable lambs. Sometimes
sickened herds can go more than a decade without having any surviving
offspring. In Washington, wildlife officials are scrambling to cull
pneumonia-sickened bighorns before lambing season starts in late
March [2010]. Nearly 20 bighorns have already died from the disease
this winter [2009-10] in the river canyon area between Yakima and Ellensburg.
Donny Martorello is with state fish and wildlife in Olympia. He says
his agency has been working to bring the species back from extinction
in the state. Donny Martorello: "When you're faced with a situation
like this where you really have to euthanize some animals really to
try and protect and increase the long term viability of the remaining
sheep, that's a tough call to make and in this case we think it's the
right one."
The sheep will be shot by state and federal wildlife officials over
the next 6 weeks.
[Byline: Anna King]
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Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[Washington wildlife managers have brought the species back from
extinction and they now claim some 1200 head. Previously there was an
outbreak in Hell's Canyon and attempts to save the affected deer
failed. The condition in lambs is heart wrenching and the lambs of
the survivors die off, year after year presumably from a chronic
infection of their dams. To quote an Idaho wildlife biologist,
Frances Cassirer: "I've seen a lot in the lambs. So they start out,
they are born and they are totally cute. Of course. I shouldn't say
this as a wildlife biologist but hey, they are cute. They are really
energetic and they are racing around the hill. And then they start
slowing down. And they start laying down a lot. They can't keep up
with the group. And then they stop nursing and then their dam has to
kind of kick them to get up to nurse because she's lactating and she
wants them to nurse. And they don't really want to eat. And then they
just die."
To read a previous report on this outbreak in Washington State and
see pictures of the big horn sheep, go to
from which the quote above was taken.
ProMED's previous reports have been from Montana and Nevada. - Mod.MHJ]
[Yakima and Ellensburg can be located on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail
interactive map of the state of Washington at
[see also:
Pneumonia, ovine - USA (05): (MT) bighorn sheep 20100205.0391
Pneumonia, ovine - USA (04): (MT), bighorn sheep 20100124.0272
Pneumonia, ovine - USA (03): (MT), bighorn sheep 20100124.0262
Pneumonia, ovine - USA (02): (MT), bighorn sheep 20100117.0197
Pneumonia, ovine - USA: (NV) bighorn sheep 20100109.0105
2009
----
Pneumonia, bighorn sheep - USA (02): (MT) 20091203.4129
Pneumonia, bighorn sheep - USA: (MT) 20091126.4055]
...................................mhj/mj/mpp
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