Bees Vanish, and Scientists Race for Reasons
New York Times
24 Apr 2007
A Barrionuevo
More than a quarter of the country’s 2.4 million bee colonies have been lost — tens of billions of bees, according to an estimate from the Apiary Inspectors of America, a national group that tracks beekeeping. So far, no one can say what is causing the bees to become disoriented and fail to return to their hives. As with any great mystery, a number of theories have been posed, and many seem to researchers to be more science fiction than science.
People have blamed genetically modified crops, cellular phone towers and high-voltage transmission lines for the disappearances. Or was it a secret plot by Russia or Osama bin Laden to bring down American agriculture? Or, as some blogs have asserted, the rapture of the bees, in which God recalled them to heaven? Researchers have heard it all. The volume of theories “is totally mind-boggling,” said Diana Cox-Foster, an entomologist at Pennsylvania State University.
Deer Scents Banned: Wildlife Act Amended to Avoid Chronic Wasting Disease
The Daily News - hfxnews.ca
24 Apr 2007
B Johnston
Area: Nova Scotia, Canada
Nova Scotian hunters will have to leave their deer pee at home.
In an effort to stop the contagious, lethal Chronic Wasting Disease from hitting Nova Scotian deer and elk, the Department of Natural Resources is banning the use of deer scents which contain deer bodily fluid. The disease has been diagnosed in commercial game farms in several states and provinces where the products originate. There are no regulations on the imported scents, which hunters can purchase at WalMart and Canadian Tire.
Hunters often soak cotton balls in the urine from a doe in heat to attract bucks. Chronic wasting disease – a transmissible neurological disease of deer and elk – is a very serious problem in Western Canada and parts of the United States, said Natural Resources wildlife director Barry Sabean.
Attempt to Control Rabies With Bait Traps Begins in the Area
News-Herald.com
24 Apr 2007
JA Hutchinson
Area: Ohio, USA
The operation will be coordinated by the state Departments of Health, Natural Resources and Transportation
A spring oral rabies baiting vaccination program is slated to begin today in five Northeast Ohio counties, including Lake, Geauga and Cuyahoga. The operation will be coordinated by the state Departments of Health, Natural Resources and Transportation, plus the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Wildlife Services program. The general health districts in Lake and Geauga counties also will provide local assistance.
Oral rabies vaccine will be distributed in a 1,149-square-mile area covering all of Lake and Geauga counties; north of Interstate 80 in Portage County; east of Interstate 77 in Cuyahoga County; and northern Summit County. Most vaccine-laden baits, particularly in rural areas, will be distributed by air, with the use of a specially equipped yellow Twin Otter airplane and by helicopter. In urban and residential areas, teams in trucks will distribute vaccine-laden baits.
IMED 2007 Abstracts, Presentations Available - Archive Number 20070424.1336
International Society for Infectious Diseases - ProMED-mail
24 Apr 2007
The inaugural International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and Surveillance (IMED 2007) was held in Vienna from 23-25 Feb 2007. Over 600 individuals from more than 60 countries attended the conference. The scientific program included over 40 talks and 300 abstracts presented in either poster or oral form.
Co-sponsored by ProMED-mail, OIE (World Animal Health Organization), WHO (World Health Organization) Regional Office for Europe, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, and the European Commission, the major themes of the conference included mechanisms for disease surveillance, emerging animal and zoonotic diseases, and emerging diseases in the European region. With permission of the individual speakers, the organizers have now made the presentations available for download at http://imed.isid.org/symposia.shtml. Complete full-text abstracts are also available for download at the same URL.
News-Herald.com
16 Apr 2007
JA Hutchinson
Area: Ohio, USA
Lake County General Health District wants reports of dead birds
Starting today, the Lake County General Health District is asking county residents to call the agency to report all dead birds they see.
Reporting dead birds is part of the Ohio Department of Health's West Nile Virus Surveillance Program and is used as an indicator of the virus' presence within the county. New this year, and due to limited state laboratory capabilities, not all birds that are reported will be tested, but they will be logged into a database and monitored.
Only crows and blue jays will be collected for West Nile virus testing because the state has determined these birds are the best sentinels of this activity. Residents may call the Health District at (440) 350-2543, (440) 918-2543, or (440) 428-4348 to report all dead birds. There is no evidence that humans or pets can contract West Nile virus from touching a dead bird.
Journal Articles of Interest
Pesticides and the Intoxication of Wild Animals [online abstract only]
J Vet Pharmacol Ther. 2007 Apr;30(2):93-100. Review.
P Berny
Sparganosis in Wild-caught Baboons (Papio cynocephalus anubis) [online abstract only]
J Med Primatol. 2007 Feb;36(1):47-54.
M Nobrega-Lee, et. al
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