'Supermap' of Avian Flu Yields New Info on Source and Spread
Ohio State University (Posted by sciencedaily.com)
30 Apr 2007
Scientists here have designed a new, interactive map of the spread of the avian flu virus (H5N1) that for the first time incorporates genetic, geographic and evolutionary information that may help predict where the next outbreak of the virus is likely to occur. In the process, they also tested hypotheses about the nature of specific strains of the virus that appear to be heading westward and have the ability to infect humans. A team of biomedical experts, led by Daniel Janies, an assistant professor in the department of biomedical informatics at Ohio State University, used special software to create an evolutionary tree of the virus's mutations. They used Keyhole Markup Language in Google Earth to project the tree onto the globe and then chose colors and symbols to indicate different hosts that carry the virus and where they live.
TimeSpan, another function in Google Earth, allowed them to animate the spread of the virus over the past decade. The map is chock-full of additional information. Clicking on a specific viral subtype generates a popup window revealing diagnostic mutations that distinguish one strain of the virus from another, and all of the data is linked to the National Institute of Health's GenBank. “The map gives us a whole new way of seeing the virus in action and understanding what it is – and isn't – doing,” says Janies. “It's enabled us to compare findings about viruses in the real world against pre-existing hypotheses about the spread of H5N1 that come from laboratory studies.”
Deadly Fish Virus Threatens Species: Scientists Fear Catastrophic Losses
USA Today (Posted by tennessean.com)
30 Apr 2007
D Cauchon
A deadly Ebola-like virus is killing fish of all types in the Great Lakes, a development some scientists fear could trigger disaster for the nation's freshwater fish. Because of a lack of genetic resistance to viral hemorrhagic septicemia, fish populations could be damaged in the same way the smallpox virus struck Native Americans and Dutch elm disease decimated elm trees, said Jim Winton, chief of fish health at the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency spokesman Doug Markham said he was not aware of the disease but said that it could possibly have devastating effects on the wildlife industry in Tennessee if it hit. Fishing is the largest part of the $2 billion wildlife industry in the state, he said.
"It would be like chronic wasting disease hitting our deer herd," Markham said, referring to a neurological disease in deer similar to mad cow disease. Viral hemorrhagic septicemia has been found in Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Niagara River and an inland lake in New York. The aggressive virus, which causes fish to hemorrhage, was unexpectedly found in the Great Lakes in 2005. Last year, it resulted in large fish kills that struck at least 20 species.
Protestors Rally Against Proposed Research Lab: Officials Weigh Building Lab in Town of Dunn
Channel 3000
30 Apr 2007
Area: Wisconsin USA
Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were in Dane County on Monday to scout out a home for a new $400 million human and animal disease research lab. If the University of Wisconsin gets its way, the national lab will be located at its Kegonsa Research Campus just off Highway 51 in the Town of Dunn. However, some nearby residents said that is no place for such an enormous and high-security facility. They continued their effort on Monday to take the UW site out of contention. Some critics of what would be the largest facility of its kind in the U.S. staged a small protest at the site near Stoughton on Monday, WISC-TV reported.
The protestors said that they hope the show of community concern will mean the UW site won't make the federal government's final list of three to seven sites, which is due out next month. Protest signs and cars lined Highway 51, and some roads reading "No National Bio And Agro Defense Facility!" The UW farmland, sandwiched between some other UW lab facilities, is one of 18 places in the running for the lab. On Monday afternoon, Homeland Security and possibly other federal officials from U.S. departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture looked at the land on foot and by bus. Escorted by UW police, the group, which included UW officials, zoomed by protesters who set up near a UW physics lab right next to the site without ever getting out.
Health Department: Rabies on the Rise in Va.
The Associated Press (Posted by wtopnews.com)
29 Apr 2007
Area: Virginia USA
Reports of rabies are on the rise in Virginia, with confirmed cases up by 10 percent this year, the state Department of Health reports. Dr. Diane Helentjaris, director of the Lord Fairfax Health District, said the increase reflects increases in population and reporting. "We only test animals that are reported to be exposed to humans or other animals," she said. "So as the population goes up, those numbers tend to go up."
Helentjaris added, "We want people to be healthy. That's why we urge all pet owners to have their animals vaccinated." So far this year, about 200 reports of rabid animals, domestic and wild, have been reported in Virginia. At this point in 2006, 175 rabid animals had been reported in Virginia. Rabies is a potentially lethal disease that attacks the nervous system. It is spread mainly by saliva from infected animals that enters the body through bites or through the mouth or eyes.
Related Article
>>>Rabies, Human, Bat - Canada (Alberta) - Archive Number 20070430.1404
Serious Bee Mite Found on Honey Bees in HawaiiHawaii Department Of Agriculture (Posted by sciencedaily.com)
27 Apr 2007
Area: Hawaii USA
A honey bee mite has been discovered at a bee farm in Manoa, Oahu, after abandoned hives from Makiki Heights were relocated to the property last week. Varroa mites were detected on bees in three of the abandoned hives on April 6 by the beekeeper and reported to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA). Samples of the mites have been sent to a mite specialist at a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) laboratory on the mainland for confirmatory identification. The varroa mite is considered one of the most serious honey bee pests and occurs almost worldwide.
Hawaii had been one of the few places where the mite was not known to occur. It is not known at this time how the mites were introduced to Oahu. So far, surveys conducted on hives in the Tantalus, UH-Manoa and Makiki area have detected varying degrees of infestation of the mite. Surveys on commercial hives on the Big Island, where several of the state’s queen bee raising operations are located, have not detected the Varroa mite.
Journal Article(s) of Interest
Evaluation of Antigen-capture ELISA and Immunohistochemical Methods for Avian Surveillance of West Nile Virus
J Vet Diagn Invest. 2006 Jan;18(1):85-9
JA Godhardt et al.
Bats as a Continuing Source of Emerging Infections in Humans
Rev Med Virol. 2007 Mar-Apr;17(2):67-91
S Wong et al.
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