Deadly Plague Kills Wildlife
East London Advertiser
31 Jan 07
Wild birds are still dying from the killer Botulism disease in Victoria Park-months after 'fresh water' pumps were installed following an outbreak last summer. Several swans, geese and ducks died last July which led to criticism of Tower Hamlets parks department for taking little action. The fresh alert this week was raised by worried resident June Beckett, who found two cormorants dying from what she believes was an outbreak in the west lake at the Bethnal Green end of the park on Saturday.
West Nile Hits Bird Species
Idaho Press-Tribune
31 Jan 07
A Van Dam
Environment: Disease spreads through local avian populations, prompts suspension of sage-grouse season in Owyhee
Idaho Fish and Game experts are concerned about the risk posed by West Nile virus to bird populations in Southwest Idaho. West Nile illness kills up to 85 percent of infected birds, depending on species, said Dr. Mark Drew, a veterinarian with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Sage grouse are among the birds to which the virus poses the most danger.
Drew said 70 percent to 85 percent of sage grouse that contract West Nile eventually die. But there is no hard data yet to gauge the virus’s effect on Idaho sage grouse populations, says Tom Hemker, the Idaho Fish and Game sage grouse manager. Still, he said, there is cause for concern.
Related Links
>>> Database Containing Information about Projects and Conservation Efforts Related to Sage-grouse (NBII Great Basin Information Project)
Dead Gulls found Off N.L. Infected with Avian Cholera
Canoe Network
30 Jan 07
Tests have confirmed that at least six dead gulls of various species found off Newfoundland were infected with avian cholera. Officials at the Canadian Wildlife Service say it’s a relatively common disease that is of minimal health risk to humans but can result in large scale die-offs in waterfowl and other bird populations.
Virus May be the Cause of Mad Cow
Times (Posted by Sun-Sentinel.com)
31 Jan 07
J Chong
A study disputes the theory that deformed proteins are to blame for the brain disease. Mad cow disease and other related brain disorders may be caused by a virus and not the weird, misshapen proteins, known as prions, that scientists think are responsible, according to a study released Monday. Researchers reported that they found virus-like particles in mouse nerve cells infected with two brain-wasting diseases similar to mad cow disease, but found no traces of the particles in uninfected cells.
Lead author Dr. Laura Manuelidis, a neuropathologist at Yale University, said the finding suggested that prions in infected brains were the result of a viral infection and not the cause of the disease. "We found something that people have been ignoring," Manuelidis said of the virus particles. "What we hypothesize is the simplest, most parsimonious point of view."
Rabid Bats Kill Eleven in Southern Peru
Reuters AlertNet
30 Jan 07
Eleven people, four of them children, have died since Christmas Day in Peru's southeastern artisan mining districts after being bitten by rabid bats, health officials said on Tuesday. Officials say victims in the Madre de Dios and Puno departments of Peru were bitten by what they believe were the same bats and infected with rabies, an infectious viral disease.
"There are 11 cases who had rabies and passed away. The diagnoses have been proven," said Carlos Contreras, regional health director in Madre de Dios. He said other people who had reported bat bites in the region were vaccinated against rabies even if they weren't showing symptoms of the disease.
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