Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Researcher Walks Among Dying Baby Chimps
LiveScience - www.livescience.com
29 Aug 2008
T Kaur
Image courtesy of Brian Szekely, Virginia Tech
Area: Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania, East Africa - Map It

. . . I study chimpanzee health. I want to determine how and why they are getting sick and dying. . . . Using samples collected from sick chimpanzees, I can do forensics of sorts. Following this approach, I was able to detect a virus in the feces. After doing further molecular analysis on this virus, I was able to tell that this virus was closely related to a human virus called the metapneumovirus. Metapneumovirus in humans causes acute respiratory disease. It can sometimes lead to death, most often in young children. Looking at my data, it was very clear that most of the chimpanzees that were getting sick and dying were the younger ones, as is the case with humans.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Oxygen-starved waters kill thousands of Lake Erie fish
Cleveland Live - www.cleveland.com
29 Aug 2008
D Egan
Area: Ohio United States - Map It

Brisk east winds have pushed oxygen-starved waters from Lake Erie's "Dead Zone" to the Ohio shoreline, killing thousands of sheepshead and smallmouth bass this week. Beaches from Cleveland to Ashtabula are littered with dead fish, although the prized walleye and yellow perch seem to have escaped. "The area of anoxia stretches from Ashtabula to Eastlake," said Kevin Kayle of the Ohio Division of Wildlife's Fairport Harbor Fisheries Unit. "The kill was triggered by a few days of east winds that pushed warm shoreline waters out to the middle of the lake and caused an upwelling of cold, anoxic water along the shoreline."

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>Beyond Carbon: Scientists Worry About Nitrogen’s Effects

Officials scramble to find source of CWD
Traverse City Record-Eagle - www.record-eagle.com
31 Aug 2008
S McWhirter
Area: Michigan United States

It's the scenario Michigan wildlife and agriculture officials feared for years -- an occurrence of a deadly, highly contagious disease that may threaten the state's wild deer herd. Now the scramble begins to locate the source of chronic wasting disease here and prevent it from reaching outbreak proportions. "We've got to freeze everything at this point until we get our arms wrapped around this," said Steven Halstead, veterinarian with the Michigan Department of Agriculture. Baiting or feeding of wildlife in Lower Michigan now is prohibited, while the state's nearly 600 private cervid facilities are under quarantine until further notice.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Lake a growler's playground
The Standard - warrnambool.yourguide.com.au
02 Sep 2008
A Johnson
Area: Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia - Map It

Lake Pertobe is a key refuge for one of the state's largest endangered frogs, according to an environmental researcher. Ballarat amphibian expert Ray Draper said the natural swamp on Warrnambool's foreshore needed to be cared for to ensure the growling grass frog survived. The 10-centimetre-long, land-based "growler", which eats other frogs and plays a crucial role in controlling their populations, is being threatened by a deadly fungus. The chytrid fungus causes a skin disease which can kill the large frogs within three weeks.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Alarm as nurse and dog are treated for bovine TB
Times Online - www.timesonline.co.uk
01 Sep 2008
V Elliott
Area: Cornwall, England, United Kingdom - Map It

A veterinary nurse and her dog have contracted bovine TB, raising fears that the high level of disease in some parts of the country could spread to more humans and pets. The woman, from Cornwall, has been treated for the respiratory infection. Her daughter has also been tested for the disease and has received medication, The Times has learnt. . . . Nicky Paul, a veterinary surgeon in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, who becomes the president of the British Veterinary Association this month, said that she was aware of the case and was waiting for the epidemiological study to be published. She said: “My biggest concern would be if the report showed the nurse had picked up the disease direct from handling a badger.”

>>>FULL ARTICLE

West Nile virus circulating in area -- 2 dead birds reveal presence of disease; doctors urge caution
Mlive.com: Ann Arbor News - blog.mlive.com/annarbornews
29 Aug 2008
T Davis
Area: Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan, USA - Map It

Two dead birds found in Ann Arbor have tested positive for the West Nile virus, the Washtenaw County Public Health Department announced Thursday. They are the first birds to test positive this season. There have been no confirmed human cases of West Nile virus in Washtenaw County or Livingston County this year, but the positive bird tests - in the 48103 and 48104 ZIP codes - show the virus is circulating and poses a public health risk. The virus thrives in hot, dry weather conditions, and August and September have historically been big months for the disease in Michigan.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH NEWS
Image courtesy of Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian’s National Zoo