Wildlife Disease News Digest

Bubonic Plague Killing Squirrels in Denver
All Headline News
11 May 2007
L Young
Area: Denver, CO USA

Residents of Denver, Colorado are being warned that a spate of squirrel deaths is being caused by "Black Death" the common name for Bubonic Plague, which killed millions of people in the 14th Century. So far, no humans have been infected. However, the plague is inside one of the city's most popular parks, the site of youth soccer games and a place people go to walk their dogs and picnic. Plague bacteria are carried by fleas that get on squirrels, rodents, pets and people and spread the disease by biting.

This bout has killed 13 squirrels found in or near City Park, and two squirrels and a rabbit found in Denver suburbs. Usually the plague is confined to the foothills or remote areas of Colorado and it kills a few dozen rodents and pets every year. Residents are being instructed to take some common sense measures to avoid squirrels and don't feed them, keep pets away from squirrels and treat pets for fleas. Some 58 people in Colorado have contracted plague since 1957, with nine of them dying.

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Hungary Admits Link with UK Bird Flu Outbreak
Telegraph
12 May 2007
R Gray
Area: Hungary

Hungary has admitted for the first time that it may have been the source of the deadly flu virus that caused an outbreak at a British turkey farm. Bognar Lajos, Hungary's deputy chief veterinary officer, conceded that the H5N1 virus could have gone undetected in a Hungarian turkey flock which was sent to slaughter. He said the meat might then have been exported by Bernard Matthews, the British poultry company, to its plant in Holton, Suffolk, before the virus infected birds there. Despite the admission, Mr Lajos insisted that ultimately the blame for the British outbreak must lie with Bernard Matthews, which was criticised for shortfalls in its biosecurity in the wake of the scare.

Mr Lajos said: "It is possible that the virus was still in an incubation period in a flock and no symptoms would have been seen. Such a flock could have been sent to slaughter and the meat transported to the UK. The problem was not with Hungary though. The problem was Bernard Matthews and its biosecurity." Until now, officials in the east European country have flatly denied that the virus could have come from Hungary.

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Deadly Fish Virus Found in Inland Wisconsin Waters
The Associated Press (Posted by wlns.com)
12 May 2007
Area: Wisconsin USA

A deadly fish virus has been found in the Lake Winnebago chain of lakes. It's the first such infection confirmed in inland Wisconsin waters. State wildlife officials say two freshwater drum fish, or sheepshead, from the Little Lake Butte des Morts (BYOO'-deh-mohr) have preliminarily tested positive for VHS. It causes anemia and hemorrhaging in fish. The DNR calls it a major fish health crisis.

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Wyoming Department of Health Urges Precautions Against Ticks
The Associated Press (Posted by billingsgazette.com)
12 May 2007
Area: Wyoming USA

Wyoming residents should take precautions against ticks to avoid serious diseases, state health officials say. The Wyoming Department of Health reports four recent cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in northeastern Wyoming. "What's interesting about those cases is three of them, at least, were from the Campbell-Converse County areas," said Dr. Tracy Murphy, state epidemiologist. "And so the fact that we had them in a relatively common area so close together suggested that we might have more of a tick problem than we normally see."

The department also has received several recent, unconfirmed reports of tularemia, a bacterial infection, among people who have handled sheep in Johnson, Natrona and Niobrara counties. The people who got sick have told their doctors that they have experienced fevers and had suffered recent tick bites. Blood tests haven't yet confirmed tularemia. Murphy said wildlife managers have found rabbits have been dying at an alarming rate in the same areas. He said such die-offs are often the result of tularemia.

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Disease Found in Crawfish Pond
The Daily Advertiser
14 May 2007
Area: Louisiana USA

The National Veterinary Service Laboratory has confirmed the presence of white spot disease in a quarantined crawfish pond in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana Commiss-ioner of Agriculture and Forestry Bob Odom has announced. The pond was quarantined in late April after Department of Agriculture and Forestry officials and aquaculture specialists from the LSU AgCenter suspected the disease was causing crawfish in the pond to die. "This disease is reportable to the USDA and the international animal health organization," Odom said in a news release. "It could have major economic impacts on Louisiana's aquaculture industry.

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Black Flies, Like Mosquitoes, Carry Disease
The Times-News: Magicvalley.com
11 May 2007
JS Hopkins
Area: Idaho USA

Well before the West Nile Virus came to Idaho and spread itself through mosquitoes, a different pesky insect was already here with a different disease as an established annoyance for Magic Valley farmers. Black flies, with 40 species in Idaho, have been reported since the 1930s as a problem in Twin Falls County for owners of sheep, cattle and horses, but it's that absence of human element that has kept it generally unknown outside–the agriculture community. The effect of the fly has reemerged as the evil partner to mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus, as the county decides whether to create an emergency vector abatement district. The commissioners will discuss the move Monday, several days after hearing almost 30 county residents at a public hearing supporting it.

"Contrary to what many people think, the common black flies primarily bite livestock," said Ed Bechinski, a leading pest management professor at the University of Idaho. "For people, black flies are just going to be a nuisance." Under a new state law, commissioners can form the district for up to two years with its own funding, and be reimbursed through a property tax raise. On Thursday they said they were seeing if the state could provide the reimbursement instead.

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