Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Plastic marine debris destined to worsen
Los Angeles Times - latimesblogs.latimes.com
20 Sep 2008

. . . The panel's report also makes a number of recommendations to decrease the amount of "ghost nets" and other plastic fishing gear that is lost or dumped at sea and continues to do its job: entangle animals. The problem is that it's not just fish, but whales, seals, turtles, birds and other marine life continually snared by this debris that rides the currents and collects along the shoreline of islands and continents. A key solution is giving commercial fishing boats easy access to port trash bins headed for the landfill and incentives to use them. As it stands now, ports charge fishermen top dollar per pound to dispose of trash, including heavy lines and nets.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>Lost fishing gear gets turned into energy

Captive breeding introduced infectious disease to Mallorcan amphibians
EurekAlert - www.eurekalert.org (Source: Imperial College London)
22 Sep 2008
Area: Mallorca, Spain, European Union

A potentially deadly fungus that can kill frogs and toads was inadvertently introduced into Mallorca by a captive breeding programme that was reintroducing a rare species of toad into the wild, according to a new study published today in the journal Current Biology. The study, by researchers from Imperial College London and international colleagues, reveals that captive Mallorcan midwife toads released into the wild in 1991 were infected with the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Measures to screen the health of the toads did not pick up the fungus, because at the time it was not known to science. The chytrid fungus, which lives in the water and on the skin of host amphibians such as frogs, toads, salamanders and newts, has been known to cause amphibian population extinctions in Europe. Globally, the disease has been found in over 87 countries and has driven rapid amphibian declines in areas including Australia and Central America, pushing some species to extinction. Bd is currently rare in the UK, having only been detected in three locations.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Cited Journal Article
>>>Invasive pathogens threaten species recovery programs. Current Biology. 2008 Sep 23; 18: R853-R854.

Solution sought for N.D. power line bird strikes
Associated Press - ap.google.com
22 Sep 2008
J MacPherson
Image courtesy of AP Photo/James MacPherson
Area: Audubon National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota, United States - Map It

Death comes from above and below for birds on the causeway that separates Lake Audubon from Lake Sakakawea along the Missouri River. Biologists believe overhead electrical power lines and car collisions make the two-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 83 through the Audubon National Wildlife Refuge one of the world's deadliest places for birds, on land or air. Recently, biologist Darren Doderer located casualty No. 373, a mangled and bloodied double-crested cormorant that appeared to have hit one of the dozen or so unmarked overhead power lines. "It's not fun to see these deaths," said Doderer, who estimated he's walked about 500 miles in the area searching for dead birds since April.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>Lee: Electrocution poses threat to migrating birds as well as year-round residents

Sea lice killing B.C. wild salmon
Victoria Times Colonist - www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist
18 Sep 2008
DC Reid
Area: British Columbia, Canada - Map It

So you thought fish farm sea lice problems were restricted to pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago? Not so. In fact, the problem is vastly worse than we have been told. New studies from the U.S.A., Canada and Norway indicate lice and the diseases they carry are killing all five salmon species in B.C. and also herring. . . . Morton's new research has begun to reveal that the lice and disease problem is huge in B.C. Her research indicates that sockeye smolts migrating up Johnstone Strait from the Fraser River have been infected with lethal numbers of infected lice as they swim through the Campbell River area.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

West Nile Virus found in bird specimen
The Observer - www.observertoday.com
20 Sep 2008
Area: Chautauqua County, New York, USA - Map It

The Chautauqua County Department of Health has received confirmation from the state Department of Health laboratory that one crow found in the northern portion of the county has tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV). This is the first positive WNV bird specimen found in Chautauqua County in 2008. "County residents should not be alarmed by this news, but these findings do reinforce the fact that there is a continuing threat of West Nile Virus transmission in the county.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>Dead bird with West Nile found in Blackstone - Blackstone, Worchester County, Massachusetts, USA - Map It

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Image courtesy of the Guardian - www.guardian.co.uk