Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Wildlife Management Must Face Climate Change [includes audio]
West Virginia MetroNews Network - www.wvmetronews.com
17 Jul 2008
C Lawrence

John Cooper is a Senior Policy Advisor for the Wildlife Management Institute. He's among those who believe global warming is already happening and having an impact on wildlife and fisheries in the United States. "Up here in my country, the prairie pothole country, we're already seeing issues where climate change is having significant impacts on water levels and on sustainable upland nesting habitat,” Cooper said following a panel discussion on global warming in Bismarck, North Dakota. Cooper is a native of South Dakota and has spent his life in the wildlife management business. He says early on he was skeptical about the claims of global warming, but is not convinced it's real, man is contributing to it, and it's adversely impacting hunting and fishing. He believes state wildlife management agencies are going to have to tackle tough management questions in the future to address the impact.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Ocean quest: The race to save the world's coral reefs [includes photo gallery]
The Independent - www.independent.co.uk
17 Jul 2008
Image courtesy of STERLING ZUMBRUNN/CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL

Last week, scientists issued their latest, grim assessment of the world's coral reefs. But as Steve Connor reports from Florida, extraordinary new ocean 'reseeding' techniques mean there may still be time to halt – or even reverse – the destruction of mother nature's marine marvelsCoral reefs are often described as the tropical rainforests of the oceans. But marine biologists sometimes use another analogy: that of the canary in the coalmine. These birds were used by miners as an early warning for lethal gas; corals, too, are extraordinarily sensitive to environmental change. For Nancy Knowlton, a scientist at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, it's an apt description: "If that's the analogy, then the canary has passed out on the floor of the cage. Coral reefs are potentially immortal. They only have to die if we make them."

>>>FULL ARTICLE

More Coral News
>>>A Coral Catastrophe? [NPR audio broadcast]

University of California to establish School of Global Health: Davis among top candidates to host one of school's centers
The California Aggie - www.californiaaggie.com
17 Jul 2008
C Hinriksson

The University of California is in the process of planning for the implementation of a degree-granting School of Global Health, which is expected to receive funding and begin recruiting faculty in May of 2009. "My feeling is that this [school] will be the most connected and

technically advanced communication system in the world," said Dr. Michael Wilkes, professor of medicine at UC Davis. "Not only connecting the UCs, but also global centers on every continent. We're really trying to make the UC a global thing." The 10 UC campuses are currently in the process of submitting proposals due in early September to host one of the six proposed Centers of Expertise that will be the physical basis of the school for administrative purposes and graduate education.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Frogs With Disease-resistance Genes May Escape Extinction
Science Daily - www.sciencedaily.com
17 Jul 2007
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto/Paul Tessier

As frog populations die off around the world, researchers have identified certain genes that can help the amphibians develop resistance to harmful bacteria and disease. The discovery may provide new strategies to protect frog populations in the wild. New research examines how genes encoding the major histocompatibility (MHC) complex affect the ability of frogs to resist infection by a bacterium that is commonly associated with frog population declines. "In the short term, captive management of frogs with complementary disease-resistance genes may offer the best hope for saving species from extinction," says Bruce Waldman, a biologist at Lincoln University in New Zealand and one of the paper's authors. "Management practices that maintain or enhance diversity in MHC genes may prove the key to safeguarding frog populations in the wild."

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Illegal trade in Indonesian markets putting wild animals in danger
YahooNews - news.yahoo.com
17 Jul 2008
A Belford
Photo courtesy of AFP

Tiger skins and rare caged primates openly sold at markets in the heart of Indonesia's capital are the most brazen and visible aspect of a thriving illegal wildlife trade. Indonesia is struggling to take on a multi-million-dollar industry that is stripping the archipelago nation's vast forests of endangered species for enormous profit by selling them to buyers around the world. With corruption rife and authorities overwhelmed, conservationists say police and forestry officials have barely made a dent. Activists and the government estimate Indonesia loses at least 80 million dollars a year through the illegal trade, with rare animals -- dead and alive -- being sold at huge mark-ups once they get to overseas markets.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

More Wildlife Trafficking News
>>>Tigers Disappear From Himalayan Refuge
>>>China says it is committed to wildlife protection

JAVMA Special Report: AVMA One Health Initiative Task Force Report Calls for World Health through Collaboration [press release]
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) - www.avma.org
15 Jul 2008

The Executive Summary of the AVMA One Health Initiative Task Force (OHITF) report defining "One Health" and providing ground-breaking recommendations and strategic actions to support and expand the concept across all health professions, especially the veterinary and human health professions, appears in the July 15, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA). Dr. Roger K. Mahr, Immediate Past President of the AVMA, recommended, and the AVMA Executive Board approved the establishment of the Task Force in spring 2007. Thirteen leaders from human health, public health, the environment, government and industry met to study the feasibility of a campaign designed to facilitate collaboration and cooperation among health science professionals, academic institutions, governmental agencies and industries to assess the critical global health and environmental challenges of today.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH NEWS