Abscesses in Captive Elk Associated with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, Utah, USA

We isolated Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis from an abscess of the head of a captive elk submitted for necropsy and from a similar abscess of a living herd mate. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case in elk and should be considered a potential cause of subcutaneous abscesses in wild elk.