Oregon fires

[Brittany Chukarman]

This herd can't catch a break

Fox Fire could deal another blow to Baker County's disease-ridden bighorn sheep herd - Baker City Herald

Blaze burned much of the habitat for a bighorn sheep herd that has been afflicted by a bacterial infection since 2020 BAKER CITY — Baker County’s largest herd of bighorn […]

bakercityherald.com

 

[Sytes]

Curious,

The nasal swab determines whether the sheep is “shedding” bacteria, meaning it’s capable of infecting others. Although shedders aren’t sick — they’re effectively immune after being exposed to the bacteria but surviving — they shed the bacteria, either constantly or intermittently.

Ratliff said it’s clear that at least one bighorn in the Lookout Mountain herd is a chronic shedder because for the past few years, so far as biologists can determine, most lambs born during the spring died, from pneumonia, before year’s end.

Adult bighorns, by contrast, all of which almost certainly have been exposed to the bacteria, haven’t been dying from pneumonia for the past few years, based on the ongoing surveys.

The portion I placed in bold, wouldn't this be a great study group? I don't know near enough though my edumacation reading the above leads me to believe something within these bighorn has prevented the bacteria from taking them down. I didn't take the article to note the "Adult bighorns" as the chronic spreaders...

Wouldn't this be great news that these adults are not getting pneumonia? Learn the difference within this immune group and compare with other adult bighorns elsewhere who are dieing from pneumonia- not accounting for the fire, of course.