The Devil is Dying: Mysterious Facial Cancer Threatens Symbol of Tasmania
Spiegel Online International
04 May 2007
R von Bredow
Area: Australia
Photos: Courtesy of Spiegel
The Tasmanian Devil, an icon of the island after which it is named, is on the verge of extinction as a contagious facial cancer decimates the animals. It's an epidemic of a kind never seen before and scientists are desperately trying to create a vaccine. . . . Strict conformity to the rhythm of the seasons is important for Tasmanian Devils, the largest carnivores among marsupials. And yet biologists are starting to observe individual animals that are no longer sticking to the normal order of things for their species, which has ensured their survival on the Australian island for many thousands of years. They are mating too early in their lives, and their offspring are born in the wrong season.
The cause is a disease that has turned the lives of Tasmanian Devils upside down. A mysterious form of cancer has afflicted the animals. Since the discovery of the first sick animal 11 years ago, the strange tumors have grown rampant in and killed more than 75,000 of the jet-black carrion eaters, or about half of all "Tassie Devils," as the raccoon-sized creatures are affectionately called by Tasmanians.
The cancer is fatal for the animals. "Once they've got a lump, it's a one way trip," says Menna Jones, an expert on Tasmanian Devils at the University of Tasmania. "It is extremely unusual to have this extreme degree of death," explains Nick Mooney, a wildlife biologist with the Tasmanian government.
1st Case Of Bird Flu Discovered In Tema
Graphic Ghana
04 May 2007
Area: West Africa, Ghana
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has asked the public to remain calm in the wake of the detection of the H5N1 Avian influenza (bird flu) virus on a farm near Tema. The sector Minister, Mr Ernest Debrah, told journalists in Accra yesterday that preliminary investigations conducted by the Avian Influenza Task Force indicated that no human being had been affected by the virus. . . . The Accra Veterinary Laboratory diagnosed the bird flu on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 on a small-scale poultry farm in the Tema municipality. . . .
One issue which came up during question time was how the nation could deal with wild or migrating birds which are likely to spread the virus, against the backdrop that Ghana has only one wildlife veterinary doctor. The Director of the Veterinary Services Division, Dr Mensah Agyen-Frempong, said although that was a challenge, it was not a major problem because measures had been put in place to keep track of the movement of wild birds.
Health Dept. Confirms First N.M. Plague Case this Year
The Associated Press (KOB.com New Mexico)
03 May 2007
Area: New Mexico, USA
The state Department of Health on Thursday confirmed a case of septicemic plague in a 49-year-old San Juan County man. It’s the first case of the year in New Mexico and the first in a San Juan County resident since 1999. The department will conduct an environmental investigation at the victim’s home to determine if there is any continuing risk.
Wildlife-Livestock Interactions Policy Adopted
JAVMA News
15 May 2007 (Issue)
The AVMA has adopted a policy encouraging government agencies to be guided by science in their policies on interactions between wildlife and livestock. The Executive Board approved the policy "Wildlife-livestock interactions," recommended by the Animal Agriculture Liaison Committee, which reads:
The AVMA encourages relevant federal and state agencies that deal with wildlife and domestic animal interactions to require the use of science-based evidence and peer-reviewed research to direct their health and resource management policies.
Bighorn sheep in the western states are a sensitive species prone to large-scale die-offs. According to the AALC, policies imposing grazing limitations for sheep and cattle appear to be inconsistent with existing scientific information concerning disease, especially information about bighorn sheep mortality. In particular, Mannheimia haemolytica infections in bighorn sheep are different from those found in domestic species.
Cape Continues Aerial Campaign against Rabies
The Press of Atlantic City
04 May 2007
B Ianieri
Area: New Jersey, USA
To raccoons, they're free meals that fall from the sky each year: fishmeal pellets dropped from a helicopter in Cape May County. But those pellets are laced with vaccine in an ongoing air campaign against rabies. The county recently ordered 46,600 fishmeal-baits laced with rabies vaccine as it plans to continue its annual distribution to raccoons and possums later this year. County freeholders authorized a contract with Merial Unlimited for $57,000 for the baits.
Although the county buys early, the vaccine is distributed in late September. Much of the bait concentrations are in northern parts of the county to establish a line. Most of the vaccine baits are dropped by helicopter along rural, wooded areas and meadows, while another 3,000 are hand-distributed. “We're a peninsula, and we're able to somewhat stop any animals coming into Cape May County primarily by dropping rabies baits by helicopter along the top of the peninsula area,” said county health officer Kevin Thomas. “Since it started, we've had a low incidence of rabies.”
Ban Aims to Control Fish Disease
Ohio Farm Bureau Federation
03 May 2007
Area Ohio, USA
Ohio Agriculture Director Robert J. Boggs has issued a proclamation, prohibiting the intrastate transportation, sale or distribution of 36 fish species susceptible to Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) out of the affected region in northern Ohio. “Aquaculture is a thriving business in Ohio, and this specific proclamation will address the problem directly, by containing movement where it is necessary and allowing the rest of the state to carry on its day-to-day operations,” Boggs said. “We will continue to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to work on the issue of interstate restrictions.”
Testing to date performed by the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory has revealed that VHS is not present in the lower three-fourths of the state. The department will continue to test and monitor for the disease. . . . Ohio’s ban prohibits intrastate distribution of VHS-susceptible fish or eggs, excluding channel catfish, out of the area in Ohio north of U.S. Highway 6 from the Indiana border to the intersection of U.S. Highway 6 and Interstate 90 near Fremont, continuing on I-90 to the Pennsylvania border. This also includes the Sandusky River south of U.S. Highway 6 to the Ballville Dam.Journal Articles of Interest
Epornitic of Avian Pox in Common Buzzards (Buteo buteo): Virus Isolation and Molecular Biological Characterization [online abstract only]
Avian Pathology. 2007 Apr; 36(2): 161-165
T Rampin et al
Field and Laboratory Findings of the First Incursion of the Asian H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus in Africa [online abstract only]
Avian Pathology. 2007 Apr; 36(2): 115 – 117
P De Benedictis et al
Avian Pathology – Table of Contents
Volume 36, Issue 2, April 2007
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