Deadly Frog Disease Is Spreading
Griffith University (Posted by sciencedaily.com)
04 May 2007
Area: Australia
The deadly chytrid fungus is making devastating in-roads into Australia's vulnerable frog populations, with a Griffith University study revealing the disease-causing fungus is now established in frog populations throughout Eastern Australia. Griffith researcher Kerry Kriger has just completed a PhD study within the Endangered Frog Research Group in Griffith University's Centre for Innovative Conservation Strategies, focusing on the geography of the disease across the region from the mountains to the coast between Cairns and southern NSW. Kerry said that chytridiomycosis – the disease caused by the fungus – was likely absent from Queensland until 1978.
It is now prevalent in moist, temperate areas around Australia, and around the world. Scientists theorize the rapid spread has been driven by international trade in amphibians as well as environmental factors. "Chytrid has spread so quickly that frogs often have no chance to evolve resistance to it," Kerry said. "It's highly infectious, so when it arrives in an area most frogs are likely to contract it. It attacks the keratin in the frogs' skin, and may also produce a toxin that poisons the frog.
Science Raises Hopes in Fight Against CWD
The Journal Times
07 May 2007
Area: Wisconsin USA
The final shot in the war against chronic wasting disease that has threatened Wisconsin's deer herd may come from scientists and not from the barrel of a gun. At least that's the theory. But almost any news is good news in the fight against CWD when we consider that the state Department of Natural Resources has been struggling and largely ineffective in its attempts to contain “ much less eradicate “ the disease despite spending some $32 million since it was discovered in the state five years ago. An audit last year showed the deer numbers in CWD infected zones had increased despite containment efforts and programs like "earn-a-buck" to encourage hunters to take antlerless deer before shooting a buck.
The state even went to using sharpshooters after the hunting season to thin the herd in CWD zones with high deer populations but low kills by hunters. That too, has been controversial. So it was no surprise that state wildlife managers and others were taking note last week of a National Institutes of Health-funded study presented in Boston that showed some success in developing an oral vaccine in mice that was highly effective in warding off prion disease symptoms in mice. Researchers are already expanding the vaccine study to see if they can replicate it with a vaccine for deer, elk and cows. Instead of using weapons to control the disease, these "shots" of vaccine would be administered through animal feed set out in CWD hot spots.
USDA Revises Its Federal Order Regarding the Movement of Live Fish Susceptible to Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia [News Release]
USDA - APHIS
04 May 2007
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service revised today its Federal Order on viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS), a highly contagious disease of some fresh and saltwater fish, to allow for catch-and-release fishing activities because they do not unduly increase the risk of introduction and spread of VHS. The October 2006 Federal Order was established to prohibit the importation of 37 species of live fish from two Canadian provinces into the United States and the interstate movement of the same species from the eight states bordering the Great Lakes. Today’s revision of the Federal Order will allow for the catch-and-release of VHS-susceptible fish in waters that cross state and international boundaries.
These activities include, recreational fishing, tournaments, competitions, fishing derbies or other types of contests where individuals catch, compare and release live VHS-susceptible fish. Catch-and-release fishing activities do not include the movement of VHS-susceptible fish intended to be used as live bait. APHIS issued the initial action in response to detections of VHS for the first time in fresh-water fish in several of the Great Lakes and related tributaries. VHS is responsible for several large-scale die-offs of wild fish in the Great Lakes region.
Dark Days for Black AbaloneSanLuisObispo.com
06 May 2007
D Sneed
Area: California USA
A spreading bacterial disease is threatening the species’ last major habitat — Big Sur — and could lead to an endangered listing.
Biologists monitoring San Luis Obispo County’s coastline have noticed a disturbing sight over the past several years: tide pools littered with the empty shells of black abalone. The big marine snails are being killed by a devastating bacterial disease called withering syndrome. Exacerbated by global warming, the condition is slowly working its way up the California coastline. Evidence of the disease can be found along nearly the entire length of the San Luis Obispo County coastline and is threatening the abalone’s last stronghold—Big Sur.
The problem has become so bad that the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned federal officials to list the black abalone on the Endangered Species List. Last month, the National Marine Fisheries Service declared the abalone a candidate for the list. A decision is expected by the end of the year. It is unclear what such a listing would mean for beachgoers, but wildlife officials say it is unlikely that tide pools and other areas along the coast where abalone are found would be placed off limits. “The plight of the black abalone is indicative of what we have done to our oceans,” said Brendan Cummings, ocean program director for the Center for Biological Diversity.
Journal Article(s) of Interest
Significant Increase of Hantavirus Infections in Germany Since the Beginning of 2007 [free full-text article]
Euro Surveill 2007;12(5):[Eprint]
J Koch et al.
Investigating the Spatial Risk Distribution of West Nile Virus Disease in Birds and Humans in Southern Ontario from 2002 to 2005 [free full-text article]
Population Health Metrics 2007 May;5(3):[Eprint]
H Beroll et al.
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