Wildlife Disease News Digest

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Tasmanian Devil could be extinct in decade withour cancer vaccine
The Daily Telegraph - www.news.co.au
17 Oct 2007
S Gee
Photo courtesy of J Grainger

THE Tasmanian devil could be extinct within a decade with little hope of finding a cancer vaccine before the wilderness population is wiped out, experts warned today. And the devils' survival from the highly contagious Facial Tumour Disease will depend on a breeding program of just 500 adult devils that are being quarantined in zoos and wildlife parks across the nation.

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Ecosystem-level Consequences Of Frog Extinctions
ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com
16 Oct 2008
Photo: Frogs afflicted by the chytrid fungus, such as this brilliant forest frog, often have discolored skin that sloughs off easily. They can become sluggish and drag their back legs behind them. (Credit: Scott Connelly/UGA)

Streams that once sang with the croaks, chirps and ribbits of dozens of frog species have gone silent. They’re victims of a fungus that’s decimating amphibian populations worldwide.Such catastrophic declines have been documented for more than a decade, but until recently scientists knew little about how the loss of frogs alters the larger ecosystem. A University of Georgia study that is the first to comprehensively examine an ecosystem before and after an amphibian population decline has found that tadpoles play a key role keeping the algae at the base of the food chain productive.

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Multi-agent systems in epidemiology: a first step for computational biology in the study of vector-borne disease transmission
7thSpace.com - www.7thspace.com
15 Oct 2008

Computational biology is often associated with genetic or genomic studies only. However, thanks to the increase of computational resources, computational models are appreciated as useful tools in many other scientific fields.

Results: Computational biology may prove to be flexible enough to take into account the natural complexity observed in both natural and man-made ecosystems. In this paper, we propose a new computational model to study the transmission of infectious diseases in a spatially explicit context. We developed a multi-agent system model for vector-borne disease transmission in a realistic spatial environment.

Conclusions: Here we describe in detail the general behavior of this model that we hope will become a standard reference for the study of vector-borne disease transmission in wildlife. To conclude, we show how this simple model could be easily adapted and modified to be used as a common framework for further research developments in this field.

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FWP proposes corridor for bison
Billings Gazette - www.billingsgazette.net
17 Oct 2008

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is proposing to go ahead with its portion of an agreement that would allow 25 bison a year to migrate north through the Royal Teton Ranch to graze on public land...The 25 bison that would be allowed to pass through the ranch to Gallatin National Forest land would be first tested for brucellosis. The number could grow to 100 bison in the future. Brucellosis, which can cause cattle to abort, is transmitted by contact with birthing materials from an infected animal. It is a major concern for Montana ranchers. The state has already lost its brucellosis-free status, which will cost the livestock industry millions of dollars for additional testing.

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Baiting and feeding deer has potential to spread disease, limit deer movement
Sawyer County Record - www.haywardwis.com
15 Oct 2008

With the fall deer hunting seasons just around the corner, wildlife managers at the Department of Natural Resources wish hunters a safe season and also ask them to help Wisconsin sustain a healthy deer herd. “While currently legal in areas outside of the CWD zone, we are asking all hunters and citizens this year to refrain from the baiting and feeding of deer throughout the state,” said DNR Secretary Matt Frank. “TB has been identified in the Minnesota deer herd and CWD was recently discovered in Michigan deer. Eliminating the baiting and feeding of deer is a cost-effective way to substantially reduce the risks of spreading disease in Wisconsin's deer herd. Baiting and feeding also artificially increases the deer population,” Frank said.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

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OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo courtesy of: ANIMAL PHOTOS WEEKLY: Rescued Penguin, Baby Sloth, More