More Dead Fish Found in Va. River
The Associated Press (Posted by Yahoo News)
12 Dec 2006
S Lindsey
Scientists baffled by massive springtime fish kills on the Shenandoah River over several years now have additional confusing information: several hundred dead fish in December. An environmentalist counted at least 300 dead northern hogsuckers on a 10-mile stretch of the main branch of the Shenandoah in Clarke and Warren counties last week, said Don Kain, a state Department of Environmental Quality biologist.
An accurate count was impossible because many had sunk the bottom, DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden said. About a dozen dead fish have been found this week, but they were of different species and in different parts of the river. Most of them were sunfish except for one smallmouth bass, Kain said. Half were found on the North Fork of the Shenandoah and half on the South Fork.
Namibia: Anti-Anthrax Campaign 'A Success'
New Era (Winhoek)(Posted by AllAfrica.com)
8 Dec 2006
P Sibeene
The aggressive three-month vaccination campaign against anthrax in cattle in the Caprivi Region will conclude tomorrow. Dr Frank Chitate from the Directorate of Veterinary Services in Caprivi described the exercise as a great success with over 105 000 animals vaccinated against the contagious disease. Officials initially projected that they would vaccinate about160 000 animals in the entire region but according to Chitate, it was found that some farmers had already vaccinated their animals even before the mass exercise started.
Since the last case of the disease was announced some time in October, no new cases have been recorded in Namibia. By October 2006, the disease had claimed the lives of 20 zebras, 14 elephants and four buffalos in the Chobe National Park - Botswana's largest wildlife conservation area that borders Namibia. During a Botswana-Namibia meeting held on 14 November 2006 with the main aim of reviewing the control of the disease in the affected areas, officials at Kasane revealed at least 210 wild animals died from anthrax.
Chilka Lake Stinks with Dead Migratory Birds
Orissa Politics
12 Dec 2006
R Mohanty & AK Sahoo
Chilka lake, the largest brackish lagoon in Asia, is literarily stinking this season with at least 82 migratory birds falling prey to some mysterious diseases in the last 18 days. This incident has sent shockwaves among the wildlife and nature lovers. Wildlife lovers have demanded immediate intervention by the experts to protect the guest birds. According Abhimanyu Behera, Chilka divisional forest officer, efforts were on to ascertain the causes of the birds' death.
He informed that preventive measures were already initiated to check further casualty. All the deaths were reported from the Nalabana Bird Sanctuary inside the Chilika Lake. Migratory birds from far-off places like Siberia and Iran arrive in Nalabana during the winter every year and return to their native places after. Mr Behera said of the 82 birds which died, 69 of them are pintails.
Utah Checks Ducks for Asian Bird Flu
The Associated Press (Posted by the Daily Herald)
12 Dec 2006
A state biologist takes a fecal sample from a tundra swan and sends it to a lab. It is a small but significant step to determine if bird flu has reached Utah. There is no sign that the deadly Asian strain has hit U.S. soil, but the possibility is keeping wildlife officials in Utah on the perch. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said it has samples from 1,180 birds and hopes to have 120 more when the duck-hunting season ends Jan. 20.
The state is taking fecal samples from ducks shot at Farmington Bay and Migratory Bird Refuge. They include tundra swans, northern pintails, northern shovelers and green-winged teal. There could be a chance that the birds nested on Alaska's northern coast and had contact with a migratory Asian bird that nested nearby in Russia. "It's a long shot for one of our birds to actually come in contact with the birds from Asia, but, hey, who knows?" said Spencer Atkinson, a state biologist.
First Diagnostic Kit for Animal Diseases and Zoonoses Passes the OIE Commission for Biological Standards Recommendation, Awaits Green Light of the International Committee
OIE
12 Dec 2006
M Zampaglione
The Platellia Rabies II diagnostic kit of Bio-Rad laboratory is the first to gain a positive recommendation by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Commission for Biological Standards according to the new OIE procedure for validation and certification of diagnostic assays launched in May 2005.
After getting the Standards Commission scientific and technical clearance, this rabies diagnostic kit has one last step to pass to get its “Fitness for Purpose” stamp, which “determines immune status in individual animals for dogs and cats (for regulation of international movement or trade) and in populations for foxes (for monitoring wildlife vaccination programmes)”.
Recently Published Journal Articles
Veterinary Medical Education Journal [Contains a number of articles about the future direction, expections, opportunities and mandates for wildlife veterinary education - See TOC]
A PCR-based method for tuberculosis detection in wildlife [Abstract only]
Developments in Biologicals
S Henault
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