Wildlife Disease News Digest

West Nile Deaths of Pelicans Studied
United Press International (Posted by sciencedaily.com)
01 Oct 2007
Photo courtesy of Fritz L. Knopf
Area: Montana USA

U.S. scientists have linked the West Nile viral deaths of hundreds of pelican chicks in northeast Montana to an infestation of stable flies. Veterinary entomologist Greg Johnson of Montana State University began studying the deaths at the Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge after discovering a bird with blood on its neck and some flies feeding on the blood in late July. Stable flies look like common house flies but they have a painful bite and come from a different family than do horse flies or deer flies. Johnson collected about 1,300 flies and divided them into 60 groups. Eighteen of the groups tested positive for West Nile virus.

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What Are You Doing with My Bird? USDA Blunder Irks Hunters
Pioneer Press - twincities.com
01 Oct 2007
C Niskanen
Area: Saskatchewan Canada

U.S. hunters traveling from Saskatchewan, Canada, last week had their game birds confiscated by U.S. customs agents after the U.S. Department of Agriculture misinterpreted its importation rules. On Thursday, the USDA banned all imports of poultry and poultry products from Saskatechwan province after an outbreak of avian influenza H7N3 was discovered on a chicken farm near Regina. U.S. customs agents were told the ban also included hunter-killed birds. But the timing was diastrous because thousands of U.S. hunters travel to Saskatchewan each fall.

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CWD Deer Could Go into Landfills
Wisconsin Radio Network - wrn.com
01 Oct 2007
J Dick
Area: Wisconsin USA

A new study from the UW could save the DNR thousands of dollars in the disposal of dead deer. It's not unusual for deer carcasses to be disposed of in landfills. But ever since CWD was discovered in south central Wisconsin other more expensive methods were used. CWD positive deer were either incinerated or chemically digested at a cost twelve to twenty-four times the cost of landfill disposal. The DNR's Greg Matthews says the new UW study indicates it's unlikely CWD will seep into surface water.

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Hunters to Aid Brucellosis Study
Wyoming Business Report - wyomingbusinessreport.com
01 Oct 2007
Area: Wyoming USA

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is asking hunters to collect blood samples from harvested elk for brucellosis surveillance again this year. The department will be mailing blood collection kits to 6,200 hunters who received elk licenses around Sheridan and the Black Hills, and in select hunt areas in northwest Wyoming around Cody. Participation in this voluntary program is critical to its success. Statewide brucellosis surveillance was one of the recommendations of the Wyoming Governor's Brucellosis Coordination Team to assess the threat of brucellosis throughout the state.

Brucellosis can be transmitted between elk and cattle and outbreaks can curtail beef exports by causing Wyoming beef to lose brucellosis-free status. Wyoming regained its Brucellosis Class-Free Status in September 2006. The Game and Fish has approached this task by dividing the state into quadrants, sampling a quadrant each year. Last year the northwest quadrant of Wyoming was surveyed. Of the approximately 5,000 kits sent, 571 were returned with useable elk blood samples. Next year, the Game and Fish plans to shift surveillance to the southeast corner of the state and continue targeted brucellosis surveillance in northwestern Wyoming on winter elk feedgrounds.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

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