August 5, 2008

TOP STORIES

Have you seen any dead frogs in your garden?
Yourcanterbury.co.uk - www.yourcanterbury.co.uk
03 Aug 2008
Area: England United Kingdom - Map It

Two lethal diseases are threatening to wipe out the entire amphibian population in Kent. That is the warning of a leading expert on frogs, toads and newts from London Zoo. Senior scientist Dr Andrew Cunningham said chytrid fungus has been found in two secret sites in the county, one west and one east, in the last two years. Both are completely wild areas. But more worrying is the apparent rapid spread of Ranavirus, which could decimate the Britain’s entire amphibian population. He said: “There have been reports in Kent of people waking up and finding their lawns covered in dead frogs.





Corals may not recover from bleaching
ScienceAlert - www.sciencealert.com.au
04 Aug 2008
Area: Great Barrier Reef Australia

Great Barrier Reef coral communities may not be able to recover from bleaching as easily as previously proposed, according to new UQ research. A two-year study by a team of UQ researchers, in the Centre for Marine Studies, has found that contrary to popular theory, it is not possible for bleached corals to recover or become more resistant to bleaching by taking up more heat tolerant species of their micro-algae partners. All corals have a symbiotic (sharing relationship) with single-celled dinoflagellates, commonly referred to as zooxanthellae. The coral provides a habitat for the zooxanthellae, which in turn produce essential nutrients for the corals.





Dolphin lagoon deaths a mystery for feds
Florida Today - www.floridatoday.com
02 Aug 2008
J Waymer
Image courtesy of Florida Today
Area: Indian River Lagoon, Brevard County - Map It and Volusia County - Map It , Florida, USA

Federal officials have launched an investigation into what has killed at least 35 bottlenose dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon since early May. All but two of the dolphins died in Brevard County, most in the northern lagoon. The other two died in southern Volusia County. It is the second time in seven years that so many lagoon dolphins have died so fast that it triggered a federal investigation.





Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
04 Aug 2008
Area: United States

USGS and a network of partners across the country work on documenting wildlife mortality events in order to provide timely and accurate information on locations, species and causes of death. This information was updated on August 01, 2008 on the USGS National Wildlife Health Center web page, New and Ongoing Wildlife Mortality Events Nationwide. Quarterly Mortality Reports are also available from this page. These reports go back to 1995.




OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Image courtesy of B Hedges/PSU




WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Road Proximity Increases Risk of Skeletal Abnormalities in Wood Frogs from National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska
Environmental Health Perspectives. 2008 Aug; 116(8): 1009-1015 [free full-text available]
MK Reeves et al.

Use of Space–Time Models to Investigate the Stability of Patterns of Disease
Environmental Health Perspectives. 2008 Aug; 116(8): 1111-1119 [free full-text available]
JJ Abellan et al.

European Journal of Wildlife Research. - Aug 2008
Vol 54 No 3 .

Emerging Infectious Diseases - Ahead of print

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Infectivity in Urine, L. Gregori et al.
Neurobrucellosis in Stranded Dolphins, Costa Rica, G. Hernández-Mora et al.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus (H5N1) Isolated from Whooper Swans, Japan, Y. Uchida et al.
>>>more ahead of print articles

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