Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Anchovy links cats to marine mammals
Cosmos - www.cosmosmagazine.com
20 Jun 2008
B Borel
Photo Courtesy of CDC

The mystery of why marine mammals worldwide have been dying from a parasite spread in cat faeces may have been solved. The culprit? The humble anchovy, new research suggests. Toxoplasmosis, the sometimes fatal disease caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is found only in cats in its infectious form, and only the fertilised eggs of the parasite – called oocysts – cause an infection.

But over the past decade the disease has also killed a vast number of marine mammals, leaving scientists puzzled over how the parasite found its way from felines to the sea. To date, the parasite has been detected in 33 species of marine mammal from seven families, including the southern sea otter, an endangered species. In fact, an estimated 17 per cent of sea otter deaths are caused by toxoplasmosis, and infected animals have been found in such geographically far-flung locations as the Arctic Circle, Australia and California.

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Fish die-off near Milwaukee signals latest lakes invader may be advancing on Chicago shores
Chicago Tribune Web Edition - www.chigacotribune.com
18 June 2008
M Hawthorne
Photo Courtesy of Chicago Tribune/Candice C. Cusic

When thousands of bloody, hemorrhaging fish recently turned up on the Lake Michigan shore south of Milwaukee, it confirmed the worst fears of scientists worried that an Ebola-like virus stalking Great Lakes fish would strike closer to Chicago.

The dead fish were round gobies, a small invasive species that many feel is better off dead. But unlike many other diseases that tend to hit one or two types of fish, this viral strain has led to large fish kills involving more than 30 species, including valuable sport fish such as salmon, trout, walleye, muskie, bass and perch.

The infection, called viral hemorrhagic septicemia or VHS, doesn't threaten human health but could be devastating to the $4 billion commercial and sport fishing industry in the Great Lakes.

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Foresters in overdrive mode to save Gir lion from anthrax
Express India - www.expressindia.com
20 Jun 2008
Area: Bagdana Village, Bhavnagar district, India - Map It

Last week's anthrax incident that took a toll on at least eight cattleheads in Bagdana village of Bhavnagar district has put the forest officials on a high alert, forcing them to take preventive measures to protect the Asiatic Gir lion from the dreaded cattle disease.

In a related development, the state Animal Husbandry Department has requisitioned 1,500 anti-anthrax vaccines that are being dispatched to Bagdana village where veterinary doctors attached to the epidemic cell of the department have launched a concerted drive to quarantine the cattle. Last week, anthrax had claimed the lives of five cows and three buffaloes in the village.

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OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH NEWS
Photo courtesy of National Geographic News