Treating Ticks with Antibiotics Inhibits Their Reproduction
University of California - Irvine (Posted by sciencedaily.com)
08 May 2007
Photo courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Area: United States
Bacteria that may provide ticks with essential nutrients they can’t get from their meals of blood could be a key to controlling ticks and the diseases they carry, a new study published in PLoS ONE shows. UC Irvine professor Dr. Alan G. Barbour and researchers Jianmin Zhong and Algimantas Jasinskas found that certain antibiotics reduced the number of bacteria in ticks, and this was associated with retarded growth in immature ticks and reduce reproduction by adult females. “The significance is that control of ticks as vectors of disease and as pests for humans, pets and agricultural animals might be achieved by targeting inborn bacteria that the ticks depend on for achieving full growth and reproduction,” Barbour said.
The yearlong study focused on the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, which is common in the southern and eastern United States and transmits erhlichiosis and other infections to humans and other animals. All of the ticks of this species have bacteria that appear to live symbiotically with the arthropod and are passed from one generation to the next. The bacteria are found at highest concentrations in nymphs that have not quite reached adulthood and in engorged females. Ticks were divided into three groups and injected either with the antibiotics rifampin or tetracycline, or with a buffer that contained no antibiotics.
Wildlife Monitoring Could Provide Clues on Pandemics
CQ Homeland Security
07 May 2007
ME Berger
Area: United States
Lawmakers are looking for new programs that would improve surveillance of wildlife in order to gather clues about the onset of avian influenza and other diseases. Animal experts say monitoring changes in disease patterns for wild animals can flag potential threats to livestock and humans as well. Diseases in wildlife populations can mutate to effect humans, such as the avian flu, or can be transmitted to livestock with disastrous economic consequences, like mad cow disease. Wildlife Center of Virginia President Ed Clark said the goal would be to create a surveillance network like that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, first in the United States and eventually around the world.
“We’re looking at providing a smoke alarm,” Clark said. Experts say the federal government is spending too much money tracking livestock and birds but not investing in wildlife. New legislation is being considered that would create a federal wildlife information network. A bill (HR 1405) approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee in March would start the Wildlife Global Animal Information Network for Surveillance (GAINS).
Disease Strikes Idaho Fish Hatchery, Killing 250,000 Rainbows
The Associated Press (Posted by theolympian.com)
07 May 2007
J Miller
Area: Idaho USA
About 250,000 rainbow trout died in a sudden disease outbreak at a southwestern Idaho fish hatchery, a loss of about 8 percent of Idaho's annual output of catchable-sized trout. It was the second such outbreak of ichthyophthirius multifilis in as many years at the state Department of Fish and Game hatchery in Nampa. Officials say it likely resulted when stress from overcrowding weakened the fish, making them more susceptible to the parasite. The outbreak happened in January, but became public this week because the state agency is trying to manage remaining stocks of 6- to 8-inch fish at its five other hatcheries to make certain lakes and streams still get enough fish to satisfy anglers.
Tom Frew, who manages the Nampa site, said careful manipulation of stocks at other facilities should make up for the losses. He said scientists are assessing just what went wrong. One possible change to avoid future outbreaks, he said, might be to reduce the number of fish raised at the Nampa hatchery and increase it elsewhere. "The parasite multiplies very rapidly," said Frew, who estimated the cost of the die-off at $40,000, including fish food and labor.
Hundreds of Rare Golden Frog Tadpoles Have Been HatchedSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Posted by sciencedaily.com)
07 May 2007
Area: Panama
Hundreds of golden frog tadpoles hatched at Hotel Campestre in El Valle earlier this month, product of the Golden Frog Project that started in 2001. The Project aims to serve as Noah's Ark until a solution to control a fungus is found. Principal investigator Edgardo Griffith, STRI visiting scientist from Southern Illinois University and research assistant Heidi Ross were surprised at the event “We didn't expect that the conditions for reproduction were already there.” The new facilities of Hotel Campestre include at least one 100 gal aquarium irrigated with tap water filtered with activated charcoal to insure purity. River stones with emerging algae, tropical plants and petri dishes containing tadpole food based on algae are also contained in the aquarium, providing a simple but effective ecosystem for the new golden frogs.
These frogs are the survivors of many highland species in Panama, victims to a chitrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Along with habitat loss, soils use change, and commercial overexploitation, Bd is responsible for the decimation of populations and extinction of many species of amphibians. No wild golden frogs are found in El Valle. The new tadpoles are the offsprings of two resident couples of golden frogs of the Hotel.
Chronic Wasting Disease Update - Report No. 86
National Wildlife Health Center
03 May 2007
B Richards
Area: United States
A brief summary of current CWD events, issues, management efforts and the results of relevant scientific research.
Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
01 May 2007
Area: United States
USGS and a network of partners across the country work on documenting wildlife mortality events in order to provide timely and accurate information on locations, species and causes of death. This information was updated on May 01, 2007 on the USGS National Wildlife Health Center web page, New and Ongoing Wildlife Mortality Events Nationwide. Quarterly Mortality Reports are also available from this page. These reports go back to 1995.
Journal Article(s) of Interest
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.
Bartonella DNA in Loggerhead Sea Turtles [letter]
Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 Jun; [Eprint]
KH Valentine et al.
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