Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Bees Go 'Off-color' When They Are Sickly
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com (Source: University of Leicester)
15 Jul 2008

Bumble-bees go 'off colour' and can't remember which flowers have the most nectar when they are feeling under the weather, a new study from the University of Leicester reveals. The behaviour of the bumbling bees reveals that, like humans who are ill, bees are often not at their most astute and clever when they feel poorly. Lecturer in Animal Biology at the University of Leicester Dr. Eamonn Mallon, who lead the research group, said: "Disease can influence different behaviours including foraging, mate choice, and predator avoidance. Several recent papers have shown reduced learning abilities in infected insects. However, it is difficult to separate the effects of the immune response from the direct effects of the parasite. That was the purpose of our study".

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Improving wildlife surveillance for its protection while protecting us from the diseases it transmits [editorial]
OIE - World Organisation for Animal Health - www.oie.int/eng
15 Jul 2008

Wildlife diseases are of growing concern worldwide. In addition to threatening populations of wild animals themselves, wildlife disease can affect domestic animals and human health. This is particularly true in present days, when emerging diseases shared by both animals and humans increasingly come to our attention in the new context of globalisation of movement of commodities and climate change. Furthermore the legal and illegal market of wildlife which is estimated at a minimum of 6 billion US dollars is growing rapidly and also contributes to the global dissemination of new pathogens and emerging diseases. Therefore, a better understanding of diseases present in wildlife and their effects on wildlife, domestic animals and humans is of key importance to develop control measures.

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Ouch! Taking a Shot at Plague: Vaccine Offers Hope for Endangered Ferrets in Plague Outbreak
USGS Newsroom - www.usgs.gov/newsroom
16 Jul 2008
Image courtesy of USGS
Area: United States

Endangered black-footed ferrets, like children, aren't exactly lining up to be stuck with a vaccine, but in an effort to help control an extensive outbreak of plague in South Dakota, some of the ferrets are getting dosed with a vaccine given by biologists. This is the first time the vaccine has been used during a major plague epizootic—an animal version of a human epidemic. Sylvatic plague is an infectious bacterial disease usually transmitted from animal to animal by fleas. This exotic disease is usually deadly for black-footed ferrets and their primary prey, prairie dogs. Black-footed ferrets are one of the rarest mammals in North America. In mid-May, the Centers for Disease Control confirmed sylvatic plague in black-tailed prairie dog colonies in the Conata Basin area of Buffalo Gap National Grasslands in southwestern South Dakota.

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Gulf Dead Zone May Grow Larger Than Ever
LiveScience - www.livescience.com
15 Jul 2008
Area: United States

An annual dead zone that develops in the Gulf of Mexico could be larger than ever this summer, scientists said today. The region, largely devoid of life, develops when an overgrowth of algae, fueled in part by agricultural runoff, robs the sea of oxygen, and other organisms can't survive. The researchers are predicting the area could measure a record 8,800 square miles, or roughly the size of New Jersey. In 2007, the dead zone was 7,903 square miles. The largest dead zone on record was in 2002, when it measured 8,481 square miles. Researchers began taking regular measurements of the dead zone in 1985.

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