MITCHELL - A
disease that forced a quarantine of sheep and killed antelope in
eastern Montana is not expected to spread into northwest South
Dakota.
Bluetongue was
confirmed last month in tests from eight flocks of sheep in six
Montana counties. A quarantine on moving sheep out of 16 counties
was lifted recently.
The disease also
killed about one-third of the antelope in one of eastern Montana's
hunting districts.
Dr. Sam Holland,
the state veterinarian in South Dakota, said it is rare to find a
case of bluetongue in South Dakota. He said his office is
monitoring the situation in Montana but is not concerned of an
outbreak in South Dakota.
Gnats spread the
disease by biting an infected animal and then biting a healthy one.
As the weather continues to cool, the gnat population and
subsequent bluetongue threat subsides, Holland said.
