October 12, 2006

Rabid Bat Found on River Path
BBC News
10 Oct 2006

A bat found on a path near the Thames in Oxfordshire has tested positive for a strain of rabies which is known to have killed humans.

The female Daubenton's bat was discovered by walkers near Abingdon Lock, Abingdon, on 12 September. It died a few days later and tests have since revealed that the animal carried the European Bat Lyssavirus - closely linked to the classic rabies virus. In 2002, a bat handler in Scotland died after contracting the virus. It is thought the man, from Angus, had been bitten by a bat about six months previously.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the bat found in Abingdon had been cared for by the people who found it and later handed it over to conservationists. After its death it was sent to a lab for routine testing and although initial results were negative, a further biological test showed the presence of EBLV-type 2. The spokeswoman said: "The people who are known to have cared for and handled the bat are receiving appropriate medical treatment as a precautionary measure - the risk to their health is negligible."

Anyone who finds a sick or injured bat should not touch it but contact a local bat conservation group or the Bat Conservation Trust, she said. Anyone bitten or scratched by a bat should seek medical attention immediately. More than 6,000 UK bats have been tested for rabies since 1986 and only five have been shown to carry the European Bat Lyssavirus (EBLV-type 2) - all were Daubenton's bats. One was found in Newhaven, Sussex, in 1996, two in Lancashire in 2002 and 2003 and one Surrey in 2004.






Scientists Concerned About Fate of Fish Along Texas Coast
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Posted by ContraCostaTimes.com)
10 Oct 2006
Jack Douglas Jr.

Marine biologists hope a cold front forecast for this week will help dissipate a toxic red tide alga that has affected a 60-mile stretch of Texas coastline, killing several thousand fish and irritating the eyes and lungs of anglers and beachgoers. At the same time, other scientists are preparing to test isolated pockets of water on Lake Whitney, 70 miles south of Fort Worth, in the hopes of finding a way to ward off a poisonous golden alga that has killed millions of fish in Texas lakes and rivers and drained an estimated $25 million from the state's inland fishing industry since its detection in 1985. On the coast, officials are tracking patches of red tide algae, which cause red- or maroon-colored "blooms."

They have been spotted from the outer coast of Matagorda Island to about 10 miles inside the Padre Island National Seashore, near Corpus Christi. The red tide spread has become significant enough to be discussed Monday at a meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, a federal-state partnership to address critical coastal issues. "Because these blooms contain neurotoxins, they threaten human and ecosystem health and can substantially impact coastal economies," Margaret Davidson, coastal services director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a statement.

The blooms, first spotted Sept. 29, have littered beaches with decaying fish, turning off tourists, especially on windy days when surf spray carries irritants from the algae, said Mark Fisher, science director for the coastal fisheries division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Because the red tide alga thrives during hot days, biologists hope cloudy conditions Monday and a cold front expected Thursday will kill off the blooms, Fisher said. While there is no concern that the current red tide spread will ultimately poison seafood, it still can hurt tourism and fishing industries, said Meridith Byrd, "harmful algae bloom coordinator" for the Parks and Wildlife Department.






Rabies Found in Region
The Daily Item
12 Oct 2006
John Finnerty

There has not been a confirmed human case of rabies in Pennsylvania in more than 20 years, but three times this year exposure to rabid animals prompted Central Susquehanna Valley residents to seek medical attention, a Health Department spokesman said. The Pennsylvania Game Commission said Wednesday that 15 rabid animals were found in the region in the first nine months of the year. There were five cases in Snyder County, three cases in Northumberland County, seven cases in Union County and no cases in Montour County.

People sought medical attention after three of the seven rabid animal cases in Union County, said Richard McGarvey, a spokesman in the state Department of Health. Those cases included a rabid raccoon found in April, a rabid fox found in June and a rabid cat discovered Aug. 29. Those seeking medical treatment would have received a five-shot series of treatments, Mr. McGarvey said. "It's just a shot," he said. "The alternative is not good. If you would develop symptoms of rabies, it would be fatal."

There were 406 rabid animals confirmed in the state in 2005, and 389 have been confirmed so far in 2006, according to the Department of Health. The animal most often discovered with rabies is the raccoon, but the disease turned up in a surprising number of species. Statewide, bobcats, coyotes, bats, deer, horses and cows were among the animals discovered with the disease. Don Garner, Southcentral Region information and education supervisor for the Game Commission, said the statistics should be used as a guideline.







Denmark Reports First Case of Lethal Scrapie Animal Disease
Bloomberg.com
12 Oct 2006
Vesna Poljak

Denmark reported its first case of scrapie, a lethal disease affecting sheep and goats which is related to mad cow disease. A crippled animal in Kjellerup in Viborg County was confirmed to have died of an atypical form of scrapie last month, Preben Willeberg, Denmark's chief veterinary officer, said in a report to the World Organization for Animal Health. The report didn't say whether a sheep or goat was infected.

The animal was more than 10 years old and the source of its infection is unknown, according to the report, which was received by the Paris-based organization this week. Another 17 animals were susceptible to infection and the affected property has been quarantined, it said. Scrapie is a degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system. Scientists believe that the feeding of rendered scrapie-infected livestock in the form of meatmeal to cattle in the U.K. in the late 1970s and 1980s caused the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. The disease, also known as mad cow disease, has been linked with the fatal brain-wasting disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob, in humans.






Anglers May Help Track Platypus Disease
ABC News Online
12 Oct 2006

Field naturalists and wildlife veterinarians may soon be helped by 22,000 Tasmanian anglers in their attempts to map the spread of a fungal disease that is killing platypuses. The disease, which leaves animals with large ulcers on their backs and tails, has been found in most of the state's major catchments. It is unclear how far it has spread into the south-west.

A consultant for Anglers Alliance, Richard Dax, says angling clubs would be happy to help. Mr Dax, who is also the chairman of Recreational Fishing Development, says the angling network is very large and there would be a good flow of information. "It's not difficult to do ... Anglers Alliance consists of all the umbrella clubs in the state and their affiliates," he said.






Cornell and the Wildlife Conservation Society Join Forces in Veterinary Training
Media-Newswire.com
11 Oct 2006

The Wildlife Conservation Society ( WCS ) and the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine have expanded their collaborative relationship, creating a new training initiative that combines the academic rigor of a premiere Ivy League university with critical hands-on experience with a diversity of wild animals at the Bronx Zoo and other WCS facilities. Cornell veterinary students in the initiative's two recently created residencies - wildlife medicine and wildlife pathology - will divide their three-year terms between Cornell, in Ithaca, N.Y., and WCS facilities in New York City, while gaining a truly comprehensive understanding of animal health issues and the skill sets to address the challenges of those disciplines at home and around the world.

The joint residencies are two of several collaborative programs in the new WCS-Cornell partnership, which also includes increasing animal disease surveillance around the world, boosting veterinary expertise in other nations, and developing a collaborative Global Center for Wildlife and Domestic Animal Health, to be located on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo. WCS and Cornell, with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development and the government of Zambia, also have launched a project to develop models for balancing socio-economic development with biodiversity conservation in southern Africa.

"This collaboration provides a unique combination of scientific rigor and higher quality of professional practice," said Dr. Donald F. Smith, the Austin O. Hooey Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell. Dr. Robert Cook, chief veterinarian and vice president of WCS Wildlife Health Sciences, added, "The WCS 'One World, One Health,' model will give the world's health organizations and agencies multi-disciplinary practitioners who can really make a difference not only to wildlife but to the future health of domestic animals and people." Residents in the wildlife medicine program will begin their training at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine, where they will study internal medicine, surgery dermatology, epidemiology and other relevant topics.






Third Case Of West Nile Confirmed
KIROTV.com
11 Oct 2006

The Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention confirmed a third case of West Nile virus in Washington Wednesday afternoon. Blood tests confirm a Clark County man in his 50s is the third person in the state to have contracted the West Nile virus. The man who became ill in early September did not travel out of state during the time he was bitten by an infected mosquito. He developed mild symptoms, a rash and a fever, and has since recovered.

The disease is not spread person-to-person so the man is not a threat to public health. A dead crow in Island County was also confirmed to be infected with the virus Wednesday. The crow was collected in September near Oak Harbor and sent to the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Washington State University for testing. Last month, two other human cases of West Nile were confirmed in a husband and wife in Pierce County. The couple were the first people reported to acquire the infection within the state.


No comments: