'Dwindle Disease' Threatens to Put Sting on Michigan's Honeybee Hives
Lansing State Journal (Posted by wzzm13.com)
27 Feb 2007
Christine Rook
Area: Michigan, USA
Worker bees' mysterious vanishing act spelling doom for many colonies.
Count Michigan among the states stung by a baffling collapse of domestic honeybee colonies. Michigan beekeeper Terry Klein has seen damage this winter in up to 20 percent of his 900 hives. Long a supplier of honey to the Lansing area, T.M. Klein & Sons expects that by spring more than half of all the hives will be dead. Klein refuses, however, to give up the business he's run for three decades.
"My wife says I'm stubborn," he said. "You can quote her on that." The problem Klein & Sons is experiencing is not stubbornness. It's a mysterious phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder, or dwindle disease. The signature symptom is an absence of mature worker bees. They up and leave, abandoning their honey, their brood and their queen.
Hunters Rally Against DNR Proposal
The Janesville Gazette
27 Feb 2007
Mike Heine
Area: Wisconsin, USA
Area hunters reacted loudly Monday night to the prospect that the Department of Natural Resources may bring back earn-a-buck regulations in an effort to curb the spread of chronic wasting disease. "I think what we need to do is have a framework that gets the most amount of hunters in the field and gives them the most opportunity," said Whitewater's Mike Sklavos, a biology teacher at Beloit Turner High School. He said rule changes are confusing and potentially pushing hunters away from the sport. "I don't think they're consistent enough in supporting what hunters' needs are," Sklavos said.
"It seems like tonight, a lot don't want earn-a-buck, but are they (the DNR) listening to them? It seems like they're not." About 50 men gathered at Milton Town Hall on Monday night for a DNR open house. "When you're talking deer, you're messing with people's traditions," said conservation warden Boyd Richter. "People want the same thing every year. They don't want it to change."
Toxins Still Threaten Wildlife
Portland Press Herald
01 Mar 2007
John Richardson
Area: Maine, USA
Three decades of anti-pollution efforts have had a big impact on Casco Bay, reducing the levels of many toxic pollutants in the ecosystem. A look at seals and other wildlife, however, shows that the old toxins are still making their way through the food chain. And a few new ones are beginning to show up, too. Those are the conclusions of a report presented Wednesday by the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The report, "Toxic Pollution in Casco Bay," compiles 20 years of data about the bay's water, sediments and inhabitants, from blue mussels to harbor seals.
"We are seeing decreasing levels of toxic contaminants," said Karen Young, director of the partnership, part of USM's Muskie School of Public Service. "The bad news is that many toxic pollutants are very persistent." Among the compounds that have declined are pesticides such as DDT and industrial pollutants such as PCBs, dioxins and mercury. Regulation, cleaner technologies and the closing of factories all likely play a role.
European Experts to Tackle Animal DiseaseMeatinfo.co.uk
28 Feb 2007
Area: United Kingdom
A rapid response veterinary expert team is being rolled out by The European Commission to tackle outbreaks of animal disease such as bird flu in Europe or elsewhere.
In a news report it stated an EU panel of national veterinary experts approved the plan, allowing the commission to go ahead and draft a list of team members from across the EU. Experts will be drawn from the fields of laboratory testing, veterinary, virology, wildlife, risk management and other areas to be ready to move within 24 to 36 hours to affected areas, officials said in the report. In a statement from the EC a spokesperson said: "The team will be made up of animal health experts who are available at short notice to assist with major outbreaks of certain diseases, such as avian influenza, bluetongue and foot-and-mouth disease.
"When necessary, members of the team will be sent to the affected Member State or third country, to provide technical assistance and to work with local authorities in bringing the disease situation under control." The spokesperson added that the team would also collaborate closely with experts from international organisations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and International Office of Epizootics (OIE). According to news reports, EU health commissioner, Markos Kyprianou, said recent and past outbreaks of bird flu, swine fever or foot-and-mouth disease in the 27-nation bloc “highlighted the importance of having well-prepared, well-trained personnel available to provide their expertise in dealing with the problem.” He added: “Time is of the essence when it comes to bringing major outbreaks under control.
Journal Article(s) of Interest
Spatial Spread of an Emerging Infectious Disease: Conjunctivitis in House Finches
Ecology. 2006 Dec;87(12):3037-46
P Hosseini et al.
Experimental Infection of Common Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) with West Nile Virus
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2006 Winter;6(4):361-8.
A Steinman
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