Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Scientists breeding better bees
Central Valley Business Times - www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com
09 Oct 2008
K Garvey
Image courtesy of K Garvey
Area: California, United States

An enhanced-line honey bee stock developed by University of California, Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, that crosses her bee line “New World Carnolians” with “Old World” Carnolians from Germany, shows genetic promise in aiding the troubled bee industry, research reveals. “I'm really pleased with the stock,” says Ms. Cobey, project leader of a honey bee stock improvement grant, funded by the California State Beekeepers’ Association and the California Almond Board. “The bees are very gentle, very hygienic and very productive, and hopefully will confer increased resistance to pests and disease.” California Secretary of Agriculture A. G. Kawamura admired the stock during the State Apiary Board meeting Oct. 3 at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on the UC Davis campus.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Game farm deer had CWD
JSOnline - www.jsonline.com
10 Oct 2008
L Bergquist
Area: Portage County, Wisconsin, USA - Map It

A white-tailed deer kept at a game farm in Portage County has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. State Veterinarian Robert Ehlenfeldt said Friday that a 7 1/2 -year-old doe, killed on Sept. 20, had been infected with the fatal disease. The animal was owned by Alligator Creek Whitetails near Junction City. State officials have quarantined the facility. State regulations require that all farm-raised deer and elk 16 months or older must be tested after death.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Frog swab to tackle deadly disease
Lincolnshire Echo - www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk
13 Oct 2008
Area: Lincolnshire, England, UK

Dedicated volunteers have been swabbing newts and frogs in a desperate search for signs of a killer fungus in Lincolnshire. The county's common toads, common frogs, smooth newts and great crested newts are being tested for signs of the deadly chytrid. Its spores have been responsible for the decline and extinction of amphibian species around the world. David Attenborough takes a closer look at the disease in his programme Under The Skin, which focuses on the decline of Panama's Golden Frog.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Updated
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
13 Oct 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 Oct 10, 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

"Africa needs warning systems for wildlife diseases"
Afrol News - www.afrol.com/SciDev.Net - www.scidev.net
10 Oct 2008
O Ogodo
Area: Africa

Africa needs early warning systems to deal with the increased threat of disease spreading from wild animals to humans such as Ebola, which will be further fuelled by climate change, according to international health experts. The issue was discussed this week at the International Union for Conservation of Nature congress in Barcelona, Spain. "Building warning systems and undertaking disease surveillance in places like the Congo Basin would be cheaper than building expensive machines to control an outbreak," said William Karesh, head of the Field Veterinary Programme at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

>>>FULL ARTICLE

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Image courtesy of Discovery News