10 Roffe, Thomas J. Jones, Lee C. Coffin, Ken Sweeney, Steven J. Hansen, Richard D. 9999 Biological Resources Division, USGS-USDOI; Ballistic Technologies, Inc. 4 304 biobullet, bison, brucellosis, national bison range, remote delivery, vaccination, wildlife health, vaccine delivery methods Yellowstone National Park bison have been affected by bovine brucellosis for at least 70 years (Rush, 1932; Tunnicliff and Marsh, 1935). Experimental infections in controlled conditions (Davis et al., 1990) and under some range conditions (Flagg, 1983) have suggested brucellosis induces abortions and can transmit to cattle. Recent studies (Roffe et al. 1999a; Rhyan et al., 2001) have shown that the epidemiology and pathogenesis of brucellosis in Yellowstone bison is similar to that found in chronically infected cattle. Whether and, if so, how to deal with this economically important cattle disease in wildlife has been controversial, and has led to numerous interagency negotiations as well as development of the state-federal cooperative Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee. One element that has widespread support is use of a safe, effective and deliverable brucellosis vaccine in free-ranging wildlife. Vaccine RB51 has been shown safe in bison calves (Roffe, et al. 1999b) and is currently being considered for use in Yellowstone bison under the negotiated management plan (Anonymous, 2000). Most efforts on vaccine research for bison have focused on safety and efficacy. Deliverability has received little attention even though current brucellosis vaccines are most effective by the parenteral route. Such a route of delivery will be logistically difficult in free-ranging wildlife.Ballistically-delivered S19 has been used for years on fed elk populations in the southern Greater Yellowstone Area and parts of western Wyoming (Smith et al., 1996). This system uses a hydroxypropyl cellulose biodegradable bullet (biobullet) propelled by compressed air to parenterally deliver encased, lyophilized vaccine. Vaccination of fed elk occurs in very high density populations and requires marking individuals to ensure a high proportion of the target population is vaccinated and multiple vaccinations are minimized. External marking is currently the limiting factor for elk vaccination because the ballistic characteristics of the paint-ball markers is considerably poorer than the biobullet. In our study, we tested the capability of state-of-the-art ballistic systems to effectively vaccinate bison and hypothesized that a high proportion of targeted bison could be effectively vaccinated without external marking. Without the need for an external marker vaccination range should increase. This project used a serum biomarker incorporated into a mock vaccine biobullet to test the hypothesis, and to assess the intrusiveness and assist in development of a field operational program for vaccinating GYA bison. Found in Bison Library, document on computerNatureBib ID: 652363