Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Seaweeds wage war on corals
ScienceAlert - www.sciencealert.com.au (Source: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)
02 Sep 2008

Scientists have found a new challenge for the world’s struggling coral reefs: seaweeds releasing chemical weapons that prevent the corals from recovering after a disaster. A ground-breaking discovery by Australian researchers has proved that some sea weeds, or algae, produce toxic chemical signals that deter coral larvae from settling on reefs devastated by bleaching, storms or other impacts. The good news is that the clever little coral larvae may also use the algal chemicals to find a good home. “Seaweeds produce a wide range of chemicals, some of which encourage coral larvae to settle and some of which repel them,” says Dr Laurence McCook of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

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Naturally occurring anthrax kills wildlife
Bozeman Daily Chronicle - bozemandailychronicle.com
02 Sep 2008
J Mayrer
Area: Gallatin County, Montana United States - Map It

Naturally occurring anthrax in the Spanish Creek, Elk Creek and Cherry Creek drainages near Ted Turners’ Flying D Ranch has killed two deer and is likely responsible for the death of 14 elk, a Fish Wildlife and Parks official said Tuesday. The animals probably became ill after coming into contact with anthrax spores in the soil, said Neil Anderson, the agency’s wildlife lab supervisor. State veterinary officials suspect anthrax killed the elk, but because the carcasses were discovered during a flyover, the cases are not confirmed. One bull, on private land just north of Ted Turners’ 113,000-acre ranch where more than 250 domestic bison have died from an anthrax outbreak, also tested positive for the disease.

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Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
03 Sep 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 Sep 02, 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.

>>> Updated Wildlife Mortality Event Table

Myall Lakes fish kill a mystery
Great Lakes Advocate - forster.yourguide.com.au
03 Sep 2008
Area: Myall Lakes, New South Wales, Australia - Map It

Thousands of dead fish floating in the Myall Lakes have locals worried, and water quality tests are taking longer than expected. Most of the dead and dying fish were infected with suffocating fungal diseases, like ‘red spot’. Government Fish Kill investigators have studied fish carcasses for 12 days, but so far have not established the cause of the deaths. Opinions on the problem’s gravity vary. Sediment clogging the Myall River mouth is thought to be hoarding stagnant water, and sand dumped at Jimmys Beach by Great Lakes Council to counter erosion is also blamed. “[The river] is full of colloid (suspended particles) mud,” Tea Gardens resident Gordon Grainger told the Newcastle Herald.

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OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH NEWS
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