September 17, 2007

Authorities Capture Rabid Fox in Colonial Heights
WRIC - wric.com
14 Sep 2007
Area: Virginia USA

Authorities have captured two rabid foxes after they have attacked people. One of the foxes was in Colonial Heights and the other found in Henrico. With these two attacks found inside a week, 8News did some digging to see if there is an increase in rabid animal cases. Health Department officials tell us because they do not do random surveillance or rabies testing, they cannot evaluate whether there is an increase, but they do not believe these cases are cause for alarm.






Culture Clash over Monkey Meat Ends Up in Court
Staten Island Live - silive.com
16 Sep 2007
F Donnelly
Area: New York USA

Monkeys are sacred to a Liberian native who emigrated to West Brighton more than two decades ago. Mamie Manneh and members of her church say eating primate parts -- known as bushmeat -- conforms with their religious beliefs and imbues them with the cunning and agile animal's spiritual power while also helping them "get closer to God." Federal prosecutors look at it another way. They contend Ms. Manneh, 39, broke federal law and an international wildlife treaty by illegally importing 65 pieces of smoked bushmeat, including primate parts, into the country early last year.

The protected wildlife parts carry the risk of "numerous" infectious diseases including tuberculosis and Ebola, prosecutors allege. The clash of cultures -- and the potentially precedent-setting case -- continues to play out in Brooklyn federal court almost two years later with a pretrial hearing on motions to dismiss scheduled for Thursday. The case is so hotly contested that both sides have enlisted a small posse of experts and together are expected to spend tens of thousands of dollars before a resolution is reached. Ms. Manneh, who also is known as Mamie Jefferson, could face up to five years in a federal penitentiary if convicted of smuggling.





Third Incident of Foot-and-Mouth Discovered
The Times - timesonline.co.uk
17 Sep 2007
V Elliot
Area: England United Kingdom

A third case of foot-and-mouth disease was identified by government vets yesterday. News of the case, which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has not yet confirmed, coincides with today’s official EU inspection of the Government’s handling of the outbreak. The Times has learnt that the results of tests on cattle culled last Friday showed that they were infected. They were owned by Robert Lawrence on a plot of land near Chertsey.

It was cattle kept by him at Milton Park Farm, near Egham, Surrey, that triggered the resurgence of the disease last week. Results are awaited on 24 pigs kept at a smallholding next to Stroude Farm, Virginia Water, where the disease was confirmed in cattle on Friday. The pigs were slaughtered amid fears that they could be infected. Vaccination teams are on standby at an aerodrome near Guildford, but are unlikely to be called on today.






Bluetongue Disease Claims Hundreds of Deer, Antelope in Eastern Montana
Great Falls Tribune - greatfallstribune.com
17 Sep 2007
M Babcock
Area: Montana USA

Bluetongue, a disease that causes animals to bleed to death internally, is hitting antelope and white-tailed deer in southeastern Montana. Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials say the disease, which is spread by a biting gnat, has been found in antelope in the Melstone-Sumatra-Ingomar area and white-tailed deer along the Yellowstone River. Reports of the dead animals began about three weeks ago. FWP issued a news release Thursday afternoon stating that "several hundred" animals had died.

"It seems to be centered in Musselshell, Treasure and Rosebud counties," said John Ensign, head of wildlife for Fish, Wildlife & Parks in Miles City. "We also are seeing dead whitetails along the Yellowstone from Hysham to Miles City. We haven't sent any of those off (to the state) but that looks more like EHD (epizootic hemorrhagic disease), but it could be bluetongue." There also have been reports of dead elk in Musselshell County, but FWP has not tested any of those animals.





Budget Cuts Hobble CWD Fight
The Janesville Gazette - gazetteextra.com
15 Sep 2007
M Hein
Area: Wisconsin USA

Facing budget cuts of more than $1 million from the state and more than $650,000 from the federal government, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has significantly scaled back its battle against chronic wasting disease. "We've lost 60 percent of our operations budget for 'on-the-ground' operations," said Davin Lopez, wildlife biologist for southeastern Wisconsin. CWD is an always-fatal brain disease that was first discovered in Wisconsin deer herds in 2002. It was first found in the Mount Horeb area west of Madison. Since then, more than 850 have tested positive.

The department will not test any deer from outside the CWD herd reduction zones, instead focusing its efforts on the disease eradication areas-where CWD was most prevalent-and "spark" areas where the disease was found in higher concentrations outside eradication zones. It will not, as it had done in years past, test areas outside of the zones to see if the disease is spreading, Lopez said. The DNR expects to test about 10,000 deer, about one-third of the testing done last year, he added. "They're not looking at the big picture here," said Jim Houck, an avid deer hunter from eastern Walworth County.





OTHER WILDLIFE DISEASE NEWS

Search in DRC for More Possible Ebola Victims

Zambia Warns Against Fish Killed by Mysterious Disease



JOURNAL ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Malaria in Africa: Vector Species' Niche Models and Relative Risk Maps [free full-text available]
PLoS ONE. 2007 Sep 5; 2(9): e824
A Moffet et al.

Ultrastructural Examination of the Host Cellular Response in the Gills of Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar, with Amoebic Gill Disease [online abstract only]
Vet Pathol. 2007 Sep; 44(5): 663-71
J Lovy et al.

Aleutian Disease in Two Domestic Striped Skunks (Mephitis mephitis) [online abstract only]
Vet Pathol. 2007 Sep; 44(5): 687-90
KE Pennick et al.

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