Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Raptors Survival Can Be Threatened By Ingesting Lead And Cadmium
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com
17 Jul 2007
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto/Michael Hite

Birds of prey accumulate environmental pollutants distributed in the surroundings and, in some cases, these can cause death. A comparative study of raptors in Galicia and Extremadura undertaken by Spanish researchers has confirmed their exposure to two potentially toxic agents, lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd). The data obtained can be used to detect the toxicological effects in terrestrial ecosystems. Birds of prey that live in extensive geographical areas can accumulate high levels of heavy metals and metalloids in their bodies, as they are top of their food chain.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

DHS behind schedule in developing biosurveillance programs
NextGov - www.nextgov.com
17 Jul 2008
G Nagesh

The Homeland Security Department is behind schedule on developing two initiatives to prevent and detect biological threats, according to department officials. A program to integrate information on diseases naturally occurring in the environment or those caused by a terrorist attack and another to sniff the air for pathogens that could cause severe illness are delayed, top DHS officials told the House Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology Subcommittee on Wednesday.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

ND regulators to weigh wind tower effect on cranes
CNNMoney.com - money.cnn.com
16 Jul 2008

Facing a huge increase in North Dakota's number of wind towers, state regulators promised to pay close attention to projects' potential effects on the whooping crane, a huge bird is in danger of extinction. "We generally aren't happy until you are," Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer told Jeffrey Towner, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife field supervisor in Bismarck, and Terry Ellsworth, an agency wildlife biologist, at a commission meeting Tuesday. Most of North Dakota's wind energy projects are outside the normal migratory path that whoopers take from Canada to Texas each year, wildlife officials say.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Vaccine For Koala Chlamydia Close
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com
17 Jul 2008
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto/Stephanie Swartz

Eighteen female koalas treated with an anti-chlamydia vaccine are showing positive results, giving scientists hope they have an answer to the disease that is threatening the survival of koalas in the wild. Professors Peter Timms and Ken Beagley from Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) said the vaccinated koalas, which are at Brisbane's Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, were mounting a good response to the vaccine.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

VIDEO: Red Tide Kills Mexico Fish [1 min 34 sec]
National Geographic
17 Jul 2008

Dead and dying fish have become a common sight in Mexican waters, killed off by a rare but naturally occurring algal bloom known as red tide.

>>>TO VIDEO

Predicting Coral Health By Identifying Nearby Microscopic Algae
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com
18 Jul 2008
Photo courtesy of Michael Stat, HIMB/SOEST

A new indicator of coral health has been discovered in a community of microscopic single-celled algae called dinoflagellates. The study reveals that a particular type of these algae renders corals more susceptible to disease." Corals are fascinating organisms whose survival is dependent on dinoflagellates that live inside the coral's tissue," says lead author Michael Stat, an assistant researcher at the Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology (HIMB) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "The relationship between these dinoflagellates and corals has long been considered mutually beneficial, with the dinoflagellates supplying the coral with food via photosynthesis in return for recycled nutrients and shelter.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Other Coral Reef News
>>>Lionfish Decimating Tropical Fish Populations, Threatening Coral Reefs

Should We Move Species To Save Them From Climate Change?
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com
18 Jul 2008
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto/Jez Gunnell

Many species must move to new areas to survive climate change. Often, this seems impossible. Species stranded on mountain tops in southern Europe that are becoming too hot for them, for instance, are unlikely to be able to reach northern Europe unaided. So should humans step in to help? An international team of conservation scientists from Australia, the United Kingdom and United States, including University of Texas at Austin Professor Camille Parmesan, call for new conservation tactics, such as assisted migration, in the face of the growing threat of climate change.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Last Week’s Top Digest News Links