Chytrid Fungus, Frogs – Japan – ProMed Archive Number 20070113.0176
ProMed-mail
13 Jan 07
. . . Biological experts are planning to issue an emergency joint statement Saturday calling for stronger quarantine procedures, tougher monitoring on sales and distribution channels and other countermeasures. Chytridiomycosis was found in frogs imported from Central and South America that were kept as pets in Tokyo, according to the experts. Of the 35 pet frogs of 11 species, 14 died in November and December 2006.
Examinations conducted by Azabu University researchers confirmed on 25 Dec 2006 that the frogs died of chytridiomycosis, probably after being infected by another frog or frogs bought in late October. At least one frog from Latin America at a pet shop in the Kanto region tested positive for the disease earlier this month.
Dense Deer Population Threatened by Disease
Edmonton Journal
15 Jan 07
H Brooymans
As the helicopter turned a corkscrew in the sky to get a better look, deer bounded away in panic, bashing their way through brush and ice-glazed snow drifts. Wildlife technician Traci Morgan peered out her window behind the pilot as the chopper swirled downward. She pressed the button of her mike: "Whitetails — two does, four fawns," she said, before marking them down on her clipboard. "I can’t believe the number of critters out there," said Lyle Fullerton, another staffer with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development on this survey flight.
By the end of the day, Morgan would tally 939 deer and moose in a 55-square-kilometre area. That’s surprisingly high, given that fish and wildlife officers had conducted a cull here in March 2005 in an effort to control the spread of chronic wasting disease. "We’ve probably never had as many deer in the province as we do now," Fullerton later said with a grimace.
Related article
Epidemic Hemorrhagic Fever - China (Jiangsu) – ProMed Archive Number 20070113.0179
ProMed-mail
13 Jan 07
Two cases of epidemic hemorrhagic fever have been reported in Jiangsu province; One in Guanyun, one in Nanjing. It emerged yesterday that Nanjing No. 2 Hospital recently admitted 2 patients with epidemic hemorrhagic fever for treatment. One is from Guanyun County in Lianyungang, and the other a local Nanjing patient. Experts say that each winter and spring this type of infectious disease breaks out easily, spread by [rodents] carrying the virus. Residents must be on guard against [rodents].
More than 10 days ago, a 42-year-old male patient from Guanyun developed fever of unknown cause. He was diagnosed with upper respiratory tract infection in a local hospital. Treatment was ineffective and his condition became more critical, with reduced urination, chest pain and lower back pain. The results of dialysis were also poor.
No Sign of Bird Flu in N.D., Biologists Say
The Forum
14 Jan 07
Tests of hundreds of birds in 35 North Dakota counties last fall found no sign of the dangerous strains of bird flu, state wildlife officials say. Game and Fish Department biologist Mike Szymanski said 941 birds were tested from late July through early November, as part of a nationwide surveillance program.
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - South America – ProMed Archive Number 20070112.0163
ProMed-mail
12 Jan 07
Affirming that there is an "endemic outbreak" [presumably a spike in the number of cases in an otherwise endemic area. -Mod.TY] of hantavirus, infectious disease specialist Dr. Daniel Stamboulian explained over Radio 10 that the best preventive measure is to ventilate those areas that could be harboring rats. In 2006, there were 20 cases in Buenos Aires alone. Hantavirus [infection], a disease that can be fatal if not diagnosed correctly, increased at the end of 2006 in Buenos Aires Province.
The Director of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health, Maria del Carmen Weiss, told Telam that in all of 2006, 20 cases [of hantavirus infection] were confirmed, but half of these occurred in the last 2 months. She attributed this to migration from the countryside to the cities as one of the fundamental causes for this peak incidence during this time of the year.
Journal Article of Interest
Dynamics of Prion Disease Transmission in Mule Deer [Online abstract only]
Ecological Applications . 2006 Dec;16(6):2208-14.
MW Miller and et al.
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