SE Asia Hunts Exotic Wildlife Dealers Who Supply Pets
Associated Press (Posted by TriValleyCentral.com)
26 Dec 2006
Brandishing pistols, a half dozen Thai police officers jump out of a pickup truck and surround the house of an alleged international wildlife trafficker. "Open the door. We want to search your house," yells one agent. The team storms, arresting the Filipino suspect and confiscating boxes full of ivory from Africa destined to be sold across Asia. They also find 20 pangolins, armadillo-like animals that could have been killed to supply the traditional medicine markets of China.
The arrest would seem to be a rare success for authorities - except that the undercover operation was just for show, part of a two-week training course conducted for the newly formed Thai anti-poaching task force in this town 90 miles south of Bangkok. Still, it was one of the first signs Southeast Asia is finally taking seriously wildlife crime that supplies exotic pets to Japan, Europe and the United States and the ingredients for costly, elaborate meals and traditional medicine in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Disease Spreads East of Sundance, to Muddy Gap
Casper Star-Tribune.net
Dec 29 2006
B Farquhar
Two deer hunting areas and two elk areas have joined Wyoming’s list of areas where chronic wasting disease has been detected. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department, after its fourth year of chronic wasting surveillance, has added deer hunt area 4 east of Sundance, deer hunt area 11 in Niobrara and Weston counties and elk hunt areas 16 and 22 in northern Carbon County -- all adjacent to areas where the disease had been previously detected.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose. Animals show no signs of illness throughout much of the disease’s course. In terminal stages, animals typically are emaciated and display abnormal behavior. There is no confirmed link between chronic wasting and any human illness. The spread of the disease this year has been more incremental -- not the big jump represented by discovery of the disease in three hunting areas around Thermopolis and on the Wind River Indian Reservation last year.
Infection Kills Animal at Columbus Zoo
Associated Press (Posted by Newark Advocate)
28 Dec 2006
A severe respiratory infection has sickened a group of bonobos at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, killing one of them, officials said Thursday. The bonobos, a type of chimpanzee, began showing signs of the infection — coughing and nasal discharge — two weeks ago. A necropsy on a 15-year-old male who died Sunday revealed severe pneumonia in his lungs, said Gerald Borin, the zoo’s executive director.
Twelve remaining bonobos are being treated with antibiotics. “The look livelier, they’re eating better, and so we’re optimistic that they’ve turned the corner,” Borin said. It’s unclear how the bonobos became infected.
Taking a Look at Fish Related Diseases
North Lake Tahoe Bonanza
29 Dec 2006
B Ajari
The Truckee River Watershed Council hosted a meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 6 on the subject of bacterial kidney disease caused by the bacterium Renibacterium salmoninarum (RS), a disease that affects both hatchery and wild salmonids (trout and salmon). It was an informative session with panel members from the California Department of Fish and Game and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Dr. William Cox, a fish pathologist from the California Department of Fish and Game, a disease expert presented a very good Powerpoint presentation on the disease which is listed as a serious disease by the California Department of Fish and Game. The disease is of great concern to hatchery operations, but the disease itself is very difficult to detect because it rarely shows in fish less than six months of age. Cox indicated that the pathogen that causes bacterial kidney disease is already present in the Truckee River drainage.
Journal Article of Interest
Wildlife, Exotic Pets, and Emerging Zoonoses [free full-text available]
Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2007 JAN; 13(1):6-11
BB Chomel and et al.
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