Bighorn sheep in Washington tests positive for disease

A bighorn sheep from the Cleman Mountain herd in central Washington state has tested positive for Mycloplasma, a bacteria that causes pneumonia in wild bighorn populations. The bacteria is usually fatal across a significant portion of the herd and there is no treatment for wild bighorn sheep and no preventative vaccine. Past pneumonia outbreaks among bighorn sheep in Washington and other parts of the western United States have been linked to contact between wild sheep and domestic sheep or goats that carry Mycoplasma but are unaffected by the bacteria.