Wildlife Disease News Digest

DEC Confirms First Case of Deer Disease in New York [Press Release]
readMedia Newswire
16 Oct 2007
Area: New York, USA

Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease is Detected in Deer Samples From Albany County

Recent tests for Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in several Albany County deer have come back positive, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today. This is the first confirmed detection of EHD in New York State. EHD does not present a threat to human health. "DEC's wildlife managers have been monitoring EHD as it has worked its way north through neighboring states," DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said.

"While other states' experiences indicate that it is not anticipated to have a long-term effect on the health of our deer herd, we will continue to monitor the spread of this disease and its potential impact." EHD is predominantly a disease affecting deer and is transmitted by certain types of biting flies called midges. It mainly affects deer in late summer and fall, but the flies die and the disease subsides when frosts and colder temperatures occur.

>>>FULL PRESS RELEASE

It Pays to Have Insurance, Especially If You Are a Devil
ABC - Northern Tasmania
17 Oct 2007
S Maiden
Area: Tasmania

Tasmanian scientists breathed a sigh of relief today as it was confirmed that the insurance population of Tasmanian devils in Victoria do not have the deadly facial tumour disease. Last year Tasmania exported twenty four Tasmanian devils to zoos around the country to guarantee the species' survival. Recently one of these so called 'insurance devils' at Victoria's Healesville Sanctuary was thought to have the cancer, however it was confirmed today that the small lump found on the devil is not the facial tumour disease.

Unlike most of their mates still their native Tasmania, these devils are disease free and carry the responsibility of staying healthy. 80 000 devils have died from the tumour, so when a red lump was discovered in the mouth of one of the insurance population, alarm was raised. The Tasmanian government has spent three million dollars on research and control of the disease, so the government department trying to save the devils were relieved.

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NTU Researchers Gain Understanding of Shrimp Virus
Taipei Times
12 Oct 2007
A Oung
Area: Taiwan

Aquaculture researchers from National Taiwan University (NTU) say that genetic analysis is yielding new insight into the workings of a virus that has devastated shrimp stocks in the nation since it was discovered in 1992. Although her team is working on a way of inoculating shrimp against the dreaded White Spot Syndrome Baculovirus Complex(WSSV), aquaculture researcher Lo Chu-fang (羅竹芳) said that there was much Taiwanese shrimp farmers could do to overcome the disease through better aquaculture practices.

"We found that during periods of stress, the level of WSSV increases in the shrimp's body at an astonishing rate," Lo said. "For instance, we have observed virus levels increasing 100,000-fold during spawning, which is a stressful event." Local shrimp-rearing methods put a lot of stress on shrimp stocks because local shrimp farmers tend to adopt a very intensive approach, Lo said. "We are talking about keeping up to a million shrimp per hectare of aquaculture pond whereas abroad 300,000 to 400,000 is the norm," Lo said.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

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