World Turtle Day 2007 on Wednesday
EmeraldCoast.com
22 May 2007
Area: United States
Human Society urges Florida residents to support turtle conservation efforts
The Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s largest animal protection organization, calls for marking World Turtle Day May 23 by focusing on the special conservation needs of turtles. According the the Human Society, turtles are winning important new protections at the state level, but at the federal level, they say Congress is considering action that would threaten both public health and the welfare of the animals. . . . At the federal level, the sale of small turtles (with shells less than four inches long) has been prohibited in the U.S. since 1975 to prevent the spread of Salmonella.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this rule prevents 100,000 children from getting Salmonella each year. The consequences can be tragic: this year a four-week-old Florida child died from Salmonella exposure from a pet turtle. In addition to the health risks, selling turtles as pets threatens animal welfare and the environment. Countless turtles die from poor shipping methods and inadequate care. If they survive, they can live for decades, outlasting childhood interest. Released or escaped turtles have displaced native species in Florida and other states.
Emigrant Ranch Cattle Are Free of Brucellosis
Billings Gazette
23 May 2007
J Falstad
Area: Montana USA
The second tests for exposure to brucellosis conducted on yearling heifers on a ranch near Emigrant are negative. Rancher and Republican State Rep. Bruce Malcolm said he got the call at 11:40 a.m. today. "It means that this place up here is free from brucellosis. No reactors. No positive ones," he said. "Every animal we have is negative." The first tests run on 75 cow/calf pairs on the Malcolm ranch came back negative on Tuesday.
Hantavirus Case Confirmed in Weld
The Tribune
23 May 2007
M Murphy
Area: Colorado USA
The second hantavirus case this year in Colorado has been confirmed in a 30-year-old Weld County man who is now recovering. A Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment laboratory confirmed the disease by serologic testing on May 18. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a respiratory disease transmitted by rural deer mice that can infect humans. Health department officials believe the man was exposed in northeastern Colorado during April.
An environmental assessment is still underway to definitively determine the origin of the virus. He was treated at North Colorado Medical Center. Earlier this month, an Alamosa County woman died from the syndrome. While the deer mice that transmit the disease are extremely common in Colorado, human cases are rare, said John Pape, an epidemiologist with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Statewide, only six people suffered from the illness last year. The human cases tend to peak in May and June because mice populations increase during these months, Pape said.
Recruiting Help to Combat CWD
The Capital Times
23 May 2007
T Eisele
Area: Wisconsin USA
Not unlike the U.S. Marines, who are always looking for "a few good men," the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is looking for a few good people to help set the course for future management of chronic wasting disease. Although in the case of the DNR, the people won't necessarily be "in battle," they will certainly learn about the on-going CWD "battle," will go through basic training about what CWD is and what the state has attempted to do, and then begin a public discussion about what the state should do in the future. The goal of the process is to have a diverse group of people involved in a dialogue that will help guide the DNR in its future management of the disease, resulting in more public support and cooperation. The group will look at how to minimize CWD's impact on the free-ranging deer population, the economy, hunters, landowners and others who benefit from a healthy deer herd.
Alan Crossley, DNR CWD coordinator, said the DNR plans to have a stakeholder advisory group of 30 to 40 people who will meet during 2007 and have their final recommendations in place in early 2008. The DNR then will take the recommendations and come up with a plan that will go to the Natural Resources Board so that the program can be in place by the 2008 deer hunting season. Some of the factors to be considered in the decision will include hunting season frameworks, CWD zone boundaries, future carcass movement restrictions, carcass disposal, the future of the food pantry program, and how to pay for CWD testing. Other issues that will be discussed include how the DNR should respond to deer refuges on private land, the role of incentives to encourage larger harvests, the role of agency shooters, and what tools the agency should have to manage the disease.
Tick-borne Diseases on Rise
Kennebec Journal Morning Sentinel
23 May 2007
Area: Maine USA
Urban sprawl has done a few things to central Maine. Obviously, it's popped developments in places that used to be open space and led to a number of "Posted: No Trespassing" signs sprouting throughout the region. One byproduct of all this growth has physicians worried, and rightly so. As houses go up, deer and other wildlife suffer a significant loss of habitat. When they lose that habitat, they start showing up in our backyards -- and when deer show up in the neighborhood, Lyme disease isn't far behind.
And not far behind Lyme disease is a host of other tick-borne diseases. "As cities and towns continue expanding, animals that host ticks are coming into metro areas because they're good places for both feeding and breeding," said Pat Smith, president of the Lyme Disease Association (LDA). "The density of potential tick hosts -- ranging from squirrels and mice to chipmunks and deer -- can be even greater in suburban than rural areas. "Bird feeders, gardens and open trash cans all make easy meals for many of the animals that attract ticks."
Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 Jul; [Epub ahead of print]
JW Song et al.
Anthrax in Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), Italy [free full-text available]
Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 Jul; [Epub ahead of print]
A Fasanella et al.
Possible Avian Influenza (H5N1) from Migratory Bird, Egypt [letter] [free full-text available]
Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 Jul; [Epub ahead of print]
MD Saad et al.
Zoonotic Pathogens in Ixodes scapularis, Michigan [letter] [free full-text available]
Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 Jul; [Epub ahead of print]
SA Hamer et al.
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