Wildlife and Parks has canceled its buffalo auction scheduled Nov. 15 at Maxwell Wildlife Refuge near Canton.

The cancellation was deemed necessary due to a very recent outbreak of a Mycoplasma bovis-induced pneumonia and arthritis among some buffalo in the Maxwell herd.

Mycoplasma bovis is a major but often overlooked pathogen that causes respiratory disease, arthritis and mastitis in cattle.

The 2,250-acre Maxwell Refuge is located six miles north of Canton in McPherson County. Wildlife and Parks maintains a fenced-in display herd of about 200 buffalo at the refuge, and surplus animals are sold at auction annually.

Staffers will begin an intensive vaccination program in order to eliminate the disease in the herd, and Wildlife and Parks plans to resume its annual buffalo auction at Maxwell in 2007.