Wildlife Disease News Digest

1000s Kicked Out of Park
News24.com
28 May 2007
Area: Uganda

Ugandan wildlife rangers on Monday evicted thousands of herdsmen from a national park amid fears their cattle would spread foot-and-mouth disease to wild animals there, officials said. The Ugandan Wildlife Authority said the herdsmen, whose animals recently suffered an outbreak of the disease, had in the past encroached into the Queen Elizabeth National Park, where they had also killed wild animals, including lions.

"We needed to protect their livestock as well as the wildlife from foot-and-month disease. We fear that if the disease gets to the wild animals, it will be a big problem," said Sam Mwanda, the wildlife authority's chief. Mwanda said game rangers had moved into the park, broken down animal sheds and ordered the herdsmen to leave after talks ended in deadlock. "We have been negotiating with them for the last four days, but they were not yielding," he said.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

UPDATE: >>>Kayihura Stops Park Evictions

300 Bison Headed to Slaughter House
Missoulian
30 May 2007
C Johnson
Area: Montana, USA

State and federal agencies this week will begin capturing and slaughtering up to 300 bison, including 100 calves, that have entered Montana from Yellowstone National Park. Ranchers packed a crowded meeting of the state Board of Livestock on Tuesday and generally supported the plan as critical to protect their industry. However, a spokeswoman for the Buffalo Field Campaign vowed that her group would let Americans know through a media campaign about Montana's slaughter of the bison “moms and babies.”

Acting State Veterinarian Jeanne Rankin unveiled the bison plan at the emergency meeting of the state Board of Livestock after reporting that repeated efforts to haze the bison back into the park had failed this spring. Livestock Board members present all endorsed Rankin's plan as a means to help Montana preserve its brucellosis-free status, which is critical for the state's $2.5 billion cattle industry.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Towards the Elimination of Rabies in Eurasia: A Joint OIE/WHO/EU International Conference [Press Release]
OIE
30 May 2007

Veterinary and public health authorities to team up to eliminate rabies worldwide

Rabies is a neglected and under-reported zoonotic disease killing an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 people each year worldwide, particularly in children. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognizes rabies as the infectious disease with the highest case fatality rate and 99% of human deaths resulting from the bite of a rabid dog.

“Prevention at the animal source is the ultimate key in dealing with a prevalent and perennial zoonosis like rabies. It is the prime responsibility of the veterinary profession to apply its knowledge and skills in animal disease control to creating a buffer between the animal source of the disease and susceptible human beings, ” said Dr Bernard Vallat, Director General of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) at the International Conference that ended today at the OIE Headquarters in Paris.

>>>FULL PRESS RELEASE

Long Checked at the Vt. border, Lyme Disease Now Surging North
Bennington Banner
28 May 2007
D Mance III
Area: Vermont, USA

Lyme disease is on the rise in Vermont. According to preliminary numbers by the Vermont Department of Health, the numbers of Vermonters with Lyme symptoms increased from 54 in 2005 to 105 last year, a 94 percent increase. Fifty-three percent of the cases were reported in Bennington County. Since Lyme is a relatively new disease (the bacterium that causes the disease wasn't positively identified until 1983), and since the disease is difficult to diagnose, these numbers could be higher.

According to Center for Disease Control, in 2005, there were 5,565 cases of Lyme in New York, 2,336 in Massachusetts, and 265 in New Hampshire. Vermont only reported 54 cases. Dayle Ann Stratton, director of the Vermont Lyme Network, thinks the numbers suggest that the Vermont medical community has been slow to recognize the extent of the problem. "Northwest Massachusetts has been a "red" area on that state's map of Lyme cases for years, but until recently the cases mysteriously stopped at the Vermont border," Stratton said. "The Vermont side is still oddly deficient in reported cases. One has to wonder why."

>>>FULL ARTICLE

GPS Devices Implanted Into Birds to Track Migratory Routes
China Post
28 May 2007
Erika Wang
Area: Taiwan

For the first time in Taiwan, wild birds have been fitted with global positioning system (GPS) devices in an effort to track migratory patterns. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) under the Council of Agriculture (COA), in collaboration with the wild bird societies of Taipei City and Tainan City, implanted GPS sun-powered transmitters into three wild ducks in April. Two of the ducks are from Taipei City's Huajiang Wild Duck Nature Park, and one from Tainan City's wetlands in Sihcao.

They were chosen because of their good health, and for their medium build which is ideal for fitting the devices, explained Huang Kwo-ching, BAPHIQ director of Animal Health Inspection. According to Huang, in the past, only educated guesses could be made about migratory patterns, which were very much still a mystery. "With the use of GPS, we are thus implementing a scientific approach to gain conclusive evidence," he said.

>>>FULL ARTICLE