Wildlife Disease News Digest

Study indicates a decline of a vanishing icon
Park Rapids Enterprise - wwwparkrapidsenterprise.com
02 Mar 2008
S Cook

Minnesota’s moose are in trouble. The population of this iconic mammal that symbolizes the northern Minnesota landscape is in decline. If the decline continues at current rates, Northeastern Minnesota moose could be down to a remnant population within 50 years, biologists say.

And the state’s leading moose research biologist thinks a warming climate may be the most significant factor in that decline.

“There’s a strong correlation between the number of ‘heat days’ in a summer and the fall and winter mortality of our moose,” said Mark Lenarz, leader of the Forest Wildlife Populations and Research Group for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources at Grand Rapids.

>>> FULL ARTICLE

>>> The case of the missing Minnesota moose

Disease-free devil population grows
ABC News – www.abc.net.au
29 Mar 2008

Another batch of tasmanian devils, free of the deadly facial tumour disease, is expected to arrive at the Department of Primary Industries Taroona quarantine centre in Hobart by the end of next week.

In parts of Tasmania up to 90 per cent of the devil population has been wiped out by a contagious cancer-like facial tumour disease.

Last month, it was announced that Commonwealth permission had been granted to bring 100 devils to the centre this year.

The devils are being taken from western and north western Tasmania, from areas known to be free of the disease.

24 devils are in quarantine, and the Save The Tasmanian Devil Project hopes to have a total of 60 by April.

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West Virginia bat experts accessing dangers of White Nose Syndrome
Herald-Dispatch – www.herald-dispatch.com
28 Feb 2008

Thousands of bats have been found dead or dying in caves and mines in New York state. The cause is a mysterious condition known as “White Nose Syndrome” because a white fungus is present on the muzzles of affected bats. The condition was first discovered in four caves in New York in 2007 but it has now been confirmed in 15 caves and mines, including sites in Vermont and Massachusetts as well as additional caves in New York. The sites where White Nose Syndrome has been confirmed contain approximately 400,000 hibernating bats. Many more caves could be impacted if this condition spreads.

If this condition is introduced into West Virginia it could devastate populations of bats that reside in the state’s numerous caves. Because all bats in the region feed solely on insects, the loss of significant numbers of bats would reduce the benefits these mammals provide in controlling insect populations, including species that may be pests to humans. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are soliciting the help of cavers and cave owners to keep this condition out of the state’s important bat caves.

As with other emerging wildlife issues, answers are not coming quickly despite the efforts of several colleges, universities and wildlife-disease laboratories across the nation. Although officials do not know the cause of the problem, what is known is that affected bats appear to have used up their winter fat stores early in the season and may not be able to survive the winter. The fungus apparent on the bats may not be the cause of the problem, but may be a secondary infection of bats weakened by some other condition. The actual cause may be fungal, viral, bacterial or some other agent.

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Wildlife Center of Virginia: Project Tripwire (wildlife disease surveillance network)
Wildlife Center of Virginia

For more than ten years, the Wildlife Center of Virginia has studied and documented unusual patterns of disease it has discovered in its patients. Among the significant findings were: an epidemic of bacterial eye infections in house finches, a regional pattern of hydrocephalus in baby red foxes, and sinus/ear infections in Eastern box turtles that have been linked to pesticide exposure. Initially, the work was focused almost exclusively on issues related to the conservation of wildlife, but it soon became clear that monitoring emerging disease in wildlife could also have important implications for human health and safety. The Wildlife Center has now broadened its surveillance program to include all aspects of environment health, including wildlife diseases, diseases shared with domestic animals, and zoonotic diseases which can pose a threat to humans. West Nile Virus is but one example of a disease affecting wildlife, domestic animals, and humans that was literally tracked across the United States by monitoring its impacts on certain species of wild birds and mammals.

Project Tripwire was conceived as a network of participating wildlife care facilities that will share patient data for analysis. The premise is similar to that used in human health research. To find out what is making individuals sick, the place to look is where sick animals (or people) go first ... to the hospital. Wildlife hospitals and rehabilitation centers are usually the true first responders when a wildlife disease event takes place. When members of the public find a sick wild animal, they don't contact government agencies, the call the local wildlife rehabilitator. By providing a powerful set of tools for data collection and analysis, along with comprehensive information on emerging diseases, Project Tripwire will enable participating wildlife care professionals to better recognize a disease outbreak and quickly report it to the proper authorities, thus maximizing the chances for an effective response.

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Bovine TB confirmed in Shiawassee
Mlive.com – www.mlive.com (source: Flint Journal)
28 Mar 2008

State officials have confirmed a case of bovine tuberculosis in a deer killed in Bennington Township in Shiawassee County.

That is well outside the part of Michigan where the disease previously has been concentrated. A hunter killed the deer in late December more than 100 miles south of the TB zone in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula, where authorities have tried to contain the outbreak since the late 1990s.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture next week will designate any cattle, bison or deer farms within 10 miles of where the deer was taken as a potential high-risk area.
"There are approximately 100 farms around the positive deer in Shiawassee County, and herds on these farms are being scheduled for surveillance testing," said Steven Halstead, MDA state veterinarian.

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Frogs becoming extinct by leaps and bounds
The Enquirer – news.enquirer.com (source: Associated Press)
02 March 2008
L Lombardi

They say you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince. Still, with more than 6,000 species of amphibians around the world, you might think the odds are pretty good, if you can stand the slimy lips.

But frogs are disappearing at an alarming rate - scientists estimate that from one-third to one-half of amphibian species are in danger of extinction.

That's why this year - a leap year, of course - has been designated as Year of the Frog by global conservation organizations.

"Frogs are really good indicators of what's going on in the environment around us," says Kym Gopt, associate curator of conservation at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

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