Cougar Deaths Raise Questions
Jackson Hole Star-Tribune
14 Dec 2006
W Royster
Domestic cats have been identified as carriers of bubonic plague in Wyoming before, but the deaths of four mountain lions to the disease this fall are a newly observed phenomenon, officials say. Three infected mountain lions, including a female and its kitten, were collared animals and part of a research project by Beringia South of Kelly, a group looking at the relationship between mountain lions and wolves. The fourth lion last year was a 10-year-old collared female and was part of a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society.
According to Cynthia Tate, assistant veterinarian for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the cougar with the kitten that had the plague also had another kitten in the litter that did not have the disease. "We don't know if the other kitten was exposed and survived," she said in a news release from the University of Wyoming. "A question that intrigues me is how many exposed cougars actually get sick, and what is the ultimate outcome? What is the proportion of sick cougars that die versus those that recover?"
Hapless Coots Draw Hungry Eagles to Georgetown Lake
The Great Falls Tribune
14 Dec 2006
. . . Eagles congregate each fall at Georgetown Lake west of Anaconda, where they find large numbers of coots to be easy pickings. . . . But this fall about 1,000 coots died after they were infected by a parasite while they consumed snails. Mark Atkinson, wildlife veterinarian for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, based in Bozeman, said the coots, had a condition known as intestinal trematodiasis, caused by a parasite.
"It causes an intestinal disease in the bird and on occasion, quite a high mortality. That is what happened at Georgetown. He said the eagles are not at risk from eating the coots. "Raptors that may feed on the coots whether sick or dying or dead would not be at risk because the infection itself occurs from coots eating the snail. That is how they become infected."
Test Results Expected Thursday as Idaho Duck Deaths Climbs to 2,500
Associated Press (Posted by Casper Star-Tribune)
15 Dec 2006
JH Alderman
The number of mallard ducks that have died in a bizarre cluster along a southeastern Idaho creek bed has climbed to 2,500, as vexed wildlife officials await test results from tissue samples. Officials from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security hope Thursday to have results of tests on tissue from the ducks' abdominal tract and on water samples from the creek that might provide clues to the unknown illness.
The battery of tests at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's national laboratory in Wisconsin, the University of Idaho and Washington State University are expected to rule out an avian flu outbreak. The ducks mysteriously began dying last week around Land Springs Creek, near the remote town of Oakley, about 180 miles southeast of Boise. On Thursday, state workers cleared the last remaining duck carcasses from the area in pickup trucks. They brought the bodies to a nearby incineration site.
Wyoming Governor Blasts Federal Brucellosis Proposal
Associated Press (Posted by North County Times)
14 Dec 2006
B Neary
Gov. Dave Freudenthal says the U.S. Department of Agriculture intends to propose a rule change that would take into account whether wildlife have brucellosis or other diseases in deciding whether to classify a state's livestock as disease-free. Freudenthal blasted the idea in a letter Tuesday to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. "Wyoming will not tolerate any federal agency's intrusion into our sovereign interests in managing our wildlife," Freudenthal wrote. "The proposed rule change is such an intrusion."
USDA spokesman Jim Rogers said the agency would have no response to Freudenthal's letter until Johanns himself wrote back. The USDA in September declared Wyoming's cattle herds to be free of brucellosis, a bacterial disease that can cause pregnant cows, bison and elk to abort their fetuses. The state had lost its brucellosis-free status in 2003 when the disease was found in a cattle herd near Pinedale that was close to an elk feedground.
Another Rabid Raccoon Found in Suffolk
Northender.com
14 Dec 2006
The Suffolk County Department of Health Services has confirmed that a raccoon found dead in a driveway on Gramercy Place in Huntington on December 6th has tested positive for the rabies virus. The carcass was tested by the New York State Department of Health Rabies Laboratory. Five animals have been found to have rabies in Suffolk County this year. All have been raccoons and all have been discovered in the Huntington area. Two cases were in Huntington, two were in Lloyd Harbor, and one was in Cold Spring Harbor.
Rabies is highly fatal to both animals and humans. Human infection usually occurs from having been bitten by an infected animal, though it is possible for contact with a minimal amount of saliva to cause infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that roughly 55,000 people die from rabies each year across the globe. Most cases of human rabies infection occur in Africa and Asia, though a significant number occur in South America. Children under fifteen make up 30 to 50 percent of deaths; and most infections result from contact with infected dogs.
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