Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Rising water in Everglades threatens wildlife
The Guardian - www.guardian.co.uk
20 Oct 2008
Image courtesy of Andy Newman/EPA
Area: Everglades, Florida, USA

The Everglades are drowning. Canals along Alligator Alley have spilled over banks into roadside swales. Deer have been driven from flooded-out tree islands to strips of dry ground - mostly canal levees, but a few have even been spotted on the porches of empty hunting cabins. And the water, already near a record high, is still creeping up - particularly in the area of deepest concern: the sprawling sawgrass prairies north of Tamiami Trail.

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Star Valley Moose Tests Positive for CWD [press release]
Wyoming Game and Fish Department - gf.state.wy.us
17 Oct 2008
Area: Bedford, Lincoln County, Wyoming, USA - Map It

A three-year-old female moose has tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease in western Wyoming. CWD is a fatal neurological disease of deer, elk, and moose that affects the brain, causing weight loss, abnormal behavior, and, eventually, death. There is no evidence that CWD has any human-health implications. "This finding was a very big surprise, said Wyoming Game and Fish Department Wildlife Disease Specialist Hank Edwards."Number one, because this is the first CWD-positive moose we have ever found in Wyoming. And number two, because this moose was in an area that is a significant distance from any other known CWD areas."

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Bat deaths in Valley spell trouble
Daily Item - www.dailyitem.com
19 Oct 2008
S Misur
Image courtesy of Craig Urey/The Daily Item
Area: Selinsgrove, Snyder County, Pennsylvania, USA

Mystery illness threatens winged insect-eaters

. . . The students, along with Bucknell professor DeeAnn Reeder, are conducting a study of local bats to research white-nose syndrome -- a disease that began killing bats across New England and Pennsylvania in 2006. But the problems are only beginning, Reeder says. White-nose syndrome, named after white fungus growing on hibernating bats, may hit Valley bats this winter, endangering certain species and even threatening local farmers' crops. "Bats are called the farmer's friend," Reeder explained. "A single bat can eat up to 100 percent or more of its own body weight every night in bugs; that translates to 3,000 mosquitoes per night."

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Crow tests positive for bird flu
The Standard - www.thestandard.com.hk (Source: Agence France-Presse)
20 Oct 2008
Area: Sham Shui Po district, Hong Kong, China - Map It

A house crow found dead in Hong Kong has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, an agricultural official said. The crow was found dead in the refuse area of a park in the Sham Shui Po district on October 15 and tests showed it was carrying the virus, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department spokesman said.

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Related News
>>>Bangladesh finds more bird flu
>>>Low pathogenic avian influenza (poultry), Germany

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Image courtesy of The Telegraph - www.telegraph.co.uk