TOP STORIES
'Black disease' threatens Green Island's coral reefsTaipei Times - www.taipeitimes.com
30 May 2008
The coral reefs north of Green Island (綠島), a popular vacation spot off the coast of Taitung where political prisoners were once held, are being threatened by sheets of black sponge that endanger marine life and the ecology around the volcanic island, an expert said on Wednesday.
Calling for immediate action to stem the spread of what he called the “black disease,” Allen Chen Chen (陳昭倫), an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Biodiversity Research Center, warned that the sponges were growing at a rate of about 50 percent a year.
The coral reefs off Kungkuan (公館), on the island’s northeast coast, are the most seriously affected, with 10.91 percent covered by the black sponge, Chen said in a recent study of the Green Island “black plague.”
Virus, not poison, killed City birds
Namibian - www.namibian.com.na
A Shigwedha
28 May 2008
Location: Winhoek, Namibia, Africa - Map It
MORE than a hundred pet pigeons died recently in the Windhoek area of a virus called Avian Paramyxo Virus (PMV), an animal health consultant with Agra said yesterday.
Dr Rainer Hassel told The Namibian that the virus caused symptoms including neck twisting, circling, loss of balance and paralysis of the wings and legs. "They started getting sick and dying about two months ago," Dr Hassel said. He said between 120 and 130 birds from five different breeders died in the Windhoek area.
He said the virus affected the brain and the respiratory and digestive systems of especially young birds and was related to Newcastle disease among poultry. Hassel sent some of the organs of a wild dove and a number of pet pigeons to a South African laboratory and the tests showed that a virus had killed them.
The results were received back on May 6 and Hassel said he notified the Central Veterinary Laboratory of the findings.
Agencies investigate fish kill in lake
Ohio.com - www.ohio.com
30 May 2008
B Downing
Location: Norton, Summit, Ohio, USA - Map It
Low oxygen levels in Silver Creek Metro Park water suspected in deaths of bluegills, catfish, shad, bass
More than 1,000 fish are dead at Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton. The fish appear to have died naturally as a result of low oxygen in Silver Creek Lake, said Jim Irwin of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, one of the agencies investigating the fish die-off.
There is no sign of a toxic spill or chemical contamination, he said. Fish-tissue samples were collected by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and sent to a laboratory in Wisconsin to make sure no disease was present. Those results are not due back for several weeks.
OTHER FISH HEALTH NEWS
Microbial Stowaways: Are Ships Spreading Disease?Science Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
29 May 2008
Ships are inadvertently carrying trillions of stowaways in the water held in their ballast tanks. When the water is pumped out, invasive species could be released into new environments. Disease-causing microbes could also be released, posing a risk to public health, according to an article in the May issue of Microbiology Today.
"There is no romantic adventure or skullduggery at work here," said Professor Fred Dobbs from Old Dominion University, Virginia. Ships pump water in and out of ballast tanks to adjust the waterline and compensate for cargo loading, making the ship run as efficiently as possible. These tanks can hold thousands of tonnes of water. "Any organisms in the water are likely to be released when it is next pumped out."
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
- Bat die-off in Northeast still mysterious: With white nose syndrome
- mortality at 90-95 percent, species is threatened
- Bat with rabies found in Naperville; first 2008 case in Will County – Map It
- Rabid animal located in FH - Map It
- CWD Not Found in Pennsylvania Hunter-Killed Deer Samples; Spring Gobbler Hunters Reminded to Report Harvests
- Wildlife suffering from lack of rain: Animal rescuers are being flooded with young birds
- Trade in wildlife: Just let them get on with it
- A Great Lakes Mystery: The Case Of The Disappearing Species
- Decision to move animal research center questioned: DHS lacks evidence supporting move of animal research center to mainland
- State's Dead Bird Hotline starts again
- Washington's Olympic Marmots Disappearing
- Rare Rhino Footage Captured [interesting tidbit] [video] [story here]
- Satellites, Beekeepers Track Climate Change Response [interesting tidbit]
WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Indiana Wildlife Disease News – April 2008
Volume 3, Issue 2 [free full-text available]
Experimental transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to European red deer (Cervus elaphus elaphus)
BMC Veterinary Research. 2008 May 28; 4 (17): ePub [free full-text available]
MP Dagleish
No comments:
Post a Comment