Wildlife Disease News Digest

Bats Perish, and No One Knows Why
New York Times - www.nytimes.com
25 Mar 2008
T Kelley
Area: United States

Al Hicks was standing outside an old mine in the Adirondacks, the largest bat hibernaculum, or winter resting place, in New York State. It was broad daylight in the middle of winter, and bats flew out of the mine about one a minute. Some had fallen to the ground where they flailed around on the snow like tiny wind-broken umbrellas, using the thumbs at the top joint of their wings to gain their balance. All would be dead by nightfall. Mr. Hicks, a mammal specialist with the state’s Environmental Conservation Department, said: “Bats don’t fly in the daytime, and bats don’t fly in the winter. Every bat you see out here is a ‘dead bat flying,’ so to speak.”

. . . Researchers have yet to determine whether the bats are being killed by a virus, bacteria, toxin, environmental hazard, metabolic disorder or fungus. Some have been found with pneumonia, but that and the fungus are believed to be secondary symptoms. “This is probably one of the strangest and most puzzling problems we have had with bats,” said Paul Cryan, a bat ecologist with the United States Geological Survey. “It’s really startling that we’ve not come up with a smoking gun yet.”

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
25 Mar 2008
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 Mar 24, 2008 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.

>>> Updated Wildlife Mortality Event Table

Don't blame chickens for bird flu
MSNBC - www.msnbc.msn.com (Source: Associated Press)
24 Mar 2008

Outbreaks also tied to rice farming, large duck populations, researchers find

Intensive rice farming and large duck populations — not the number of chickens raised — may be the best predictors of where bird flu might develop in Southeast Asia, according to researchers reviewing outbreaks in Vietnam and Thailand. About 140 million birds in Southeast Asia have been killed in recent years to prevent the H5N1 virus from spreading. Researchers are trying to understand what factors have contributed to continued outbreaks despite significant control efforts. By isolating those factors, policymakers can better target efforts to stem or prevent future outbreaks.

For example, they could limit the movement of ducks into the rice paddies at certain times of the year, which would reduce the prospects of the virus being exchanged between domestic ducks and wild birds. Researchers reviewed three outbreaks in early 2004 through late 2005. They looked at five variables: duck abundance, human population, chicken numbers, elevation and rice cropping intensity.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Searching for Answers About What Harms Coral Reefs, and What May Protect Them
VOA News - www.voanews.com
Photo courtesy of Associated Press
25 Mar 2008

A look at recent studies of coral reefs. Some scientists say rising temperatures have damaged almost half around the world. Yet many reefs stay colorful and healthy. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. This week, we will tell about recent studies of coral reefs. Corals are groups of small organisms called polyps. They are found in warm seawaters. Millions of corals grow together to form coral reefs. The reefs support many kinds of sea life.

>>>FULL TRANSCRIPT AND PODCAST

Zoologists Unlock New Secrets About Frog Deaths
Newswise - www.newswise.com (Source: Southern Illinois University Carbondale)
25 Mar 2008

New research from zoologists at Southern Illinois University Carbondale opens a bigger window to understanding a deadly fungus that is killing off frogs throughout Central and South America, and that could threaten amphibian populations in North America as well. The research, led by SIUC zoologist Karen R. Lips, and SIUC zoologist Michael W. Sears, underscores the dire circumstances facing up to 43 percent of known amphibian species in the world and points up the need for more regulations, conservation efforts and quarantines to prevent the fungus’ spread. A paper outlining their findings appeared today (March 25) in the journal PLoS Biology.

An associate professor of zoology in the College of Science at SIUC, Lips is at the forefront of in research in catastrophic decline of frog species brought on by the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus. The fungus, known to researchers as “Bd,” wipes out frog populations essentially by completely blocking their skin. Amphibians such as frogs depend on their skin to provide oxygen and moisture. Bd infections cause electrolyte imbalance, which can lead to cardiac arrest.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Cited Journal Article
>>>Riding the Wave: Reconciling the Roles of Disease and Climate Change in Amphibian Declines

Related News
>>>Waving goodbye to frogs

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo by Jerry Acton, New York courtesy GBBC